By Euronews
Published on
Workers at all former Ilva sites in Italy are set to go on strike on 12 October, unions have announced, following Thursday’s meeting with the government at Palazza Chigo.
Meanwhile, production at the hot end of the Taranto steelworks was suspended on Friday. More than 2,000 workers in Italy remain at risk of losing their jobs.
Acciaierie d’Italia has announced plans to shut down operations at plants in Taranto, Genoa, and Novi Ligure.
The undersecretary to the prime minister’s office, Alfredo Mantovano, stressed the need for an emergency decree that includes social protections for workers and provides for a wage-support scheme that would not be tied to the closure of operations but would instead help keep the business going.
The government is expected to submit it at the next council of ministers, scheduled for Tuesday.
Taranto
On Friday, all production at the hot end of the Taranto steelworks was suspended, in compliance with a ruling by the Milan Court of Appeal.
The facilities will remain on heated standby, operating at the minimum technical level required to keep them warm but without producing steel.
Acciaierie d’Italia confirmed the move in a note sent to the prefect, local authorities, and law enforcement.
The shutdown will remain in place until the Court of Cassation rules on the appeals lodged by Ilva and Acciaierie d’Italia on 20 October.
‘Completely unacceptable’
The company has also announced that by “15 November” there will be a “temporary general shutdown” of the former Ilva plants in Genoa and Novi Ligure.
“The announcement of a lockout is completely unacceptable,” said the mayors of Genoa and Novi Ligure, Silvia Salis and Rocchino Muliere.
“It is an untenable prospect for workers, for Genoa and Novi Ligure, and for our country’s entire steel industry,” Salis warned.
For the President of the Liguria Region, Marco Bucci, and his Piedmont counterpart, Alberto Cirio, “the announced closure of the former Ilva plants in Cornigliano, Novi Ligure and Racconigi is extremely serious news, not only for Liguria and Piedmont, but for the entire Italian steel industry, which is strategic for the country’s industrial future.”
The trade unions also describe the idea of closure as “unacceptable.”
“The workers have shown a great sense of responsibility, and we must therefore ensure that the cost of decisions and mistakes – which are not the workers’ fault – is not passed on to all the workers at the former Ilva plants,” said Michele de Palma, feneral secretary of Fiom-Cgil, who was present at the meeting at Palazzo Chigi.
According to the USB, a country’s industrial strategy “is not decided by the judiciary,” with Sasha Colautti, a member of the national executive, insisting that the government’s powerlessness in the face of the courts must not become an excuse.
This situation could take a further turn for the worse if the blast furnaces at Taranto were also to be taken off heat before the Court of Cassation issues its ruling.
The permanent shutdown of the hot end would leave no possibility of a subsequent restart, marking the definitive end to production and rendering any decision by the Supreme Court null and void.
Undersecretary Mantovano has stated that the government is “assessing whether there is scope to avoid a complete shutdown so as not to cause irreparable damage to the plants,” before focusing on green steel production using DRI plants (which do not use blast furnaces) and electric furnaces, provided this is part of a “credible industrial plan.”