TARANTO – The government intervened to ensure the continuity of used Ilva production, but for the unions this was not enough. More than just numbers, the issue is industrial policy. This concerns what is now called a “closure plan” for everyone. For Fiom Cgil, Fim Cisl and Uilm it should be taken off the table. «Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, must bear the responsibility to withdraw it and reconvene negotiations with social partners at Palazzo Chigi», asked the secretary general of the three acronyms, Michele De Palma, Ferdinando Uliano and Rocco Palombella.
Roadblock assembly
On a day when tensions were particularly high, with workers’ protests spreading from Genoa to Taranto, where assemblies in factories and demonstrations in front of the gates were accompanied by blockades of state roads leading to the city until the evening, Palazzo Chigi tried to send a signal of relaxation. The decree law approved by the Council of Ministers authorizes the commissioners of the Acciaierie d’Italia to use the remaining 108 million of the bridge loan – an important resource to guarantee the continuity of the plant – until February 2026, when the tender procedure to identify the buyer is expected to end. Another 92 million in funding has been allocated for critical interventions on blast furnaces, ordinary and extraordinary maintenance, and environmental interventions. The provision also allocates an additional 20 million for the two-year period 2025-2026, placing the additional wages recognized by workers at up to 75% at the expense of the state treasury, which to date has been supported by the Acciaierie d’Italia. In addition, it is planned to remodulate compensation funds to the Taranto region.
Call to Rome
However, the spirit never calmed down. As if the protests inside and outside the factory weren’t enough, what made the climate hot in the morning was held a round table for the Genoa-Corigliano, Novi Ligure and Racconigi factories at Palazzo Piacentini, set by Minister Urso on November 28. For the union, this was clearly an attempt to divide the protest front, which was the beginning of the effort the “stew” that will lead to single sales assets corporation, effectively leaving Taranto to its fate. It is no coincidence that it was from the Ionian capital that the complaints of Fiom, Fim, Uilm and Usb arose. The minister tried to make a quick correction: on the 28th, at the Palazzo Piacentini, the meeting on the factories in the North will be continued, without interruption, with a joint meeting of the government, in the presence of all the ministers involved in the dispute, with the national and territorial trade union organizations, the presidents of the regions of Puglia, Liguria and Piedmont and the local authorities involved. For unions, this is not enough. The government – Fiom Cgil, Fim Cisl and Uilm confirmed in the evening – should withdraw the plan and hold negotiations at Palazzo Chigi. However, Mimit sources say that Urso’s summons occurred at the explicit request of the secretariat of the territorial union of the Ionian capital and factories in the North, as well as the regions of Puglia and Liguria as well as the mayors of Taranto and Genoa. Moreover, in the Ligurian capital, a front is starting to form in favor of participation in the meeting on the 28th, which risks creating a split on the union side.
Pd and M5 lunge
The dispute also animates political debate. All opposition forces lined up alongside the workers. Secretary of the Democratic Party, Elly Schleinplaced Minister Urso in his care. «He must step aside and Giorgia Meloni must face him, as he often says, in a crisis situation that risks becoming a social catastrophe», he attacked. President of the 5 Star Movement, Giuseppe Contecalled on the government to use “billions in funds raised from the bridge over the Channel to decarbonise the former Ilva”. Of the majority it is Forza Italia, with Maurizio Gasparrito realize that “a solution must be found”.
