After two days of labor strikes, on Thursday evening the Council of Ministers approved a law allowing Acciaierie d’Italia, the current name of the former ILVA Taranto, to use public funds amounting to 108 million euros to resume production at various factories, at least for some factories to prolong the suffering. The government’s idea is to postpone it until February 2026, when in theory the procedure for selling used ILVAs should be closed, an effort that is very difficult and has been going on for months.
This is another similar decision, namely to “save ILVA”, which the union says is by no means decisive, especially regarding the future of the approximately eight thousand workers currently employed at the various factories.
However, with the promulgation of the law, the occupation of former ILVA factories in Genoa, Novi Ligure (Alessandria) and Taranto also stopped. The union initially called a 24-hour strike on Tuesday evening, which was then extended to Friday: on Wednesday workers of the former ILVA in Genoa occupied the factory, then workers in Novi Ligure did the same, and on Thursday workers in Taranto, who also blocked several roads in the city. The garrison in Genoa ended on Thursday evening, in Taranto and Novi Ligure on Friday.
Former ILVA workers protest in Taranto, 20 November 2025 (ANSA)
In more detail, the legislative decision released 108 million euros from one of the many “bridge” loans allocated over the years to avoid production stops, to be used precisely for the factory’s production activities. Since the company was confiscated in 2012 and then put into extraordinary administration, governments of various majorities have issued 18: this is the 19th.
This is the reason why the former ILVA Taranto still exists: for many years the company’s financial condition was in a negative state, because the factory had long been small in terms of production but too large in terms of employment. In short, the former ILVA had a huge liquidity problem (little cash was available to pay for what was needed, from materials to maintenance to staff), and therefore government funds were used to cover the gap temporarily.
The statutory decisions include, among other things, allocating 20 million euros at the end of 2025 and 2026 to integrate up to 75 percent of the treatment of extraordinary redundancy funds, which has so far been supported by the Acciaierie d’Italia. Currently, there are 4,500 laid-off workers: according to the government’s plans, this number will increase to 5,700 and then to 6,000 from January. Plans to increase the redundancy fund were announced on Tuesday evening: unions rejected them, then announced a strike that led to the occupation of the steelworks site in recent days.
Moment of demonstration in Cornigliano by former ILVA workers in Genoa, 19 November 2025 (ANSA/LUCA ZENNARO)
For unions, which accuse the government of having no real industrial plan for the former ILVA, decree law alone is not enough. There are currently few offers to buy old ILVAs: according to the government, the best are from the Bedrock fund, which in any case involves a lot of layoffs, and is therefore very unpopular. According to the union, this entire procedure is just a prelude to the definitive closure of the factory.
Minister of Business and Made in Italy (Mimit) Adolfo Urso meanwhile held a meeting on November 28. Initially only representatives of steel mills in northern Italy were invited to the meeting, then after much protest the meeting was extended to Taranto, but on two separate occasions. However, the metalworkers’ union asked for a unified meeting, and not at Mimit but at Palazzo Chigi, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “Urso failed, Meloni should take note of it,” Rocco Palombella, Uilm secretary, told Republic. «The economic and financial situation of the former Ilva is collapsing and the plan we are talking about is not a relaunch plan, but a closure plan, starting March 1».
– Read also: The conclusion of Adolfo Urso’s victory at the former ILVA
Unions have long called for the former ILVA not to be sold to external buyers, but to be nationalized. The thesis is also supported by several local politicians, including presidential candidate in the upcoming regional elections in Puglia Antonio Decaro, who on Friday said that “The state must enter the capital of ILVA, which the public should know about”.
However, selling a used ILVA is very difficult. On the one hand there is the need to reduce the environmental impact of factories, and on the other hand there is the need to protect workers. For the steel factories in the former ILVA, as well as others, there has been talk for some time about “decarbonization”, i.e. switching to a steel production system that is less polluting than coal: in real terms this means replacing coal blast furnaces with electric furnaces that consume more electricity, but also reorganizing work and teaching male and female workers new tasks. Therefore, it is possible that the old ILVA will be reduced significantly following a possible sale, although at this time it is difficult to say for sure by how much, and will largely depend on the company’s and the government’s choices.
– Read also: What will happen to former ILVA workers in Taranto
