expected 50 days of chaos in Naples

Pressing by Salvini to unlock the night checks on line 1 trains. After the days of chaos generated by the daytime closures of the Naples underground, due to the tests to be carried out on the trains before they can be put into circulation, the Minister of Infrastructure intervened impetuously. A discussion table was convened two days ago at the MIT – an appointment set for Thursday 23 at the Porta Pia headquarters – at which they will take the ministry, Ansfisa and the workers’ unions leave.

The goal is to unravel the trade union dispute which blocks night-time checks on fixed installations (metro and tramways throughout Italy) and in particular at the Neapolitan metro. Before seeing the other 11 new trains in circulation, stopped today in the Piscinola depot (excluding the first, which is already in circulation, and the second in the test phase), users risk facing 50 days of inconvenience – considering only the phase of the dynamic braking tests of trains in suspension of circulation (without the presence of passengers).

The need to sit around a table arose following the escalation of tensions. The demands of the trade unions mainly pertain to the classification of the technical personnel absorbed on 1 January 2022 by Ansfisa. “An issue that has been going on for over a year now – explain from MIT – and which with the agitation implemented by the unions is causing critical issues to the system”. From Rome, they are keen to clarify that «Matteo Salvini has been at MIT for a few months, after many years as ministers of the center-left, and had immediately dealt with the Ansfisa dossier to the point of publicly requesting the maximum possible effort to unblock the deadlocks and speed up the controls”. In this match the role of the Municipality of Naples is certainly not marginal. The mayor Gaetano Manfredi and the commissioner for transport Edoardo Cosenza are trying to wear the uniform of bridge workers so that a mediation can be reached. Meanwhile, tests will stop next week, pending the outcome of the meeting between MIT, Ansfisa and the unions.

To understand the origin of the chaos of these days it is necessary to enter into it. The testers report to Ansfisa, the national agency for the safety of railways and road and motorway infrastructures, established with the Genoa decree after the collapse of the Morandi bridge. In fact, an agency already existing since 2008, the Ansf, founded at the instigation of the EU, is being enlarged. After the collapse, the competences on roads and motorways were also diverted to Ansf: thus Ansfisa was born. This takes off at the end of 2020 and becomes fully operational in mid-2021: then the inspections on roads and motorways start. In 2021, in September, after the Mottarone cable car accident in Piedmont, a state law arrives which also entrusts Ansfisa with the tasks of the former Ustif, i.e. the MIT offices in charge of controls on fixed systems: subways, trams, cable cars , trolleybuses, treadmills, lifts and escalators. This transition will formally take place at the beginning of 2022. The persons in charge of controls on the Naples underground are among the former Ustif employees: or 82 units out of the total 310 of the Agency. Workers with different economic treatment compared to Ansfisa colleagues. What does it take to put all employees on the same level? A decree that calls into question more than one administration, but necessary to obtain the funds needed to pay for the ex Ustif units. The union battle that in December led to the proclamation of a state of unrest starts precisely from this wage difference.

Ansfisa immediately took action with the old Government in order to obtain both the contractual modification and a new classification for the workers in question. But the political elections have interrupted the path undertaken with the previous executive. One wonders why Ansfisa doesn’t force workers to work night shifts for train testing. The answer is simple: it can’t do it. In fact, carrying out the checks after working hours is a practice, for which the former Ustifs receive the overtime due. In essence it is a custom, but it is not a rule to establish it. How many employees are there at the former Ustif in Naples? In addition to a technical manager, 14 people are in service. Among these, four engineers and two other graduate technicians, all competent in putting rolling stock into operation, but engaged in the various underground systems or other types of skills. The others are administrative, therefore necessary for the functioning of the offices.

Read the full article
on Il Mattino