There is no government plan: they just want to close the former Ilva. The union was very firm in ending the confrontation with the executive at the Taranto plant after a day of discussions revealed that the redundancy fund for workers in January could reach 6,000 with a significant increase at the end of December: from 4,550 to around 5,700 units, with income integration, due to the remodulation of activities.
In the afternoon, at the end of the uncertain negotiations, Palazzo Chigi also intervened: The government expressed regret that the proposal to continue discussions regarding the former Ilva, also in relation to the technical aspects that emerged during the discussions, was not accepted by the union. “The company is in this transition phase”.
But the union spoke without nuance about the “closure” of the project despite assurances from a potential “secret” new buyer. And redundancy funds are also very burdensome.
The meeting was temporarily stopped by Minister Adolfo Urso at the request of Deputy Minister Alfredo Mantovano who chaired the meeting. Mantovano, said sources present at the meeting, has explained that starting tomorrow, in-depth discussions between the government, technicians and commissioners are needed to better analyze the issues presented at the negotiating table. But the union turned the tables and tomorrow – they announced – they would be with the workers to tell what happened. Ilva’s former “closure”, they say.
Meanwhile, from what we have learned, further use of IGC from January 1 will be due to coke ovens being shut down to carry out the work required for decarbonization. However, this explanation was not enough for the union. They weren’t even convinced by the announcement of “secret” negotiations with a new entity interested in taking over the factory. According to what union sources reported, Urso spoke of four parties potentially interested in the steel group, again mentioning Baku Steel plus two funds it applied for in September: Flacks Group and Bedrock. To this must be added other people who are carrying out negotiations which are strictly kept confidential.
Today the request was conveyed again to the Executive in a meeting attended not only by the government and unions but also by representatives of the Piedmont, Liguria and Puglia regions, as well as representatives of Invitalia.
The union was not diplomatic at the end of the meeting. Fim Cisl talks about “dramatic situations”. Fiom’s secretary, Michele De Palma, was even harsher: “The government has actually put forward a shutdown plan. There are thousands of workers who end up on redundancy pay, there is no financial support for relaunch and decarbonization.
We have decided together as Fim, Fiom and Uilm to meet the workers and explain that we will fight the government’s choice in every possible way”. “There is nothing – commented the general secretary of Uilm, Rocco Palombella – There is also no industrial plan. They talk about ‘short’ plans: because the time remaining before closing is very short.
So we decided to meet the workers and explain that this plan could not be discussed or changed. This is an unacceptable plan because it starts from one assumption: it leads to the closure of former Ilva. And we don’t want to be responsible for this. So far we have followed them: now they are condemning the workers to the inevitable shutdown.”
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