Eurallumina, deadlocked dispute: workers and unions ready to mobilize

Ready to mobilize because "patience is over". The workers of Eurallumina of Portovesme announced the resumption of protest initiatives, the first link in the aluminum supply chain, controlled by the Russian Rusal, which now risks insolvency.

The company, which until the stop in March 2009 was involved in the transformation of bauxite into alumina (from which primary aluminum is then obtained), has to deal with the freezing of funds due to sanctions on Russia. A situation that ended up at the center of several disputes and appeals to the TAR which then saw Rusal suspend payments to the subsidiary, approximately 2.4 million euros per month, and freeze the recovery plan which is worth over 350 million euros.

Hence the risk of insolence because, as denounced by the unions, "the resources that the State should provide to keep the factory afloat are not arriving and the debt is growing". The company has activated the preparatory procedure foreseen in cases of business crisis. Furthermore, in the event of a further stop, the groundwater reclamation system is at risk.

«An environmental protection that stops in Portovesme exposes the territory to the concrete risk of an environmental disaster - the unions write -. It also means exposing the State to safety and clean-up costs which the company itself estimates at around 300 million euros, compared to the few millions needed today to guarantee continuity". Hence the start of the initiatives to be implemented.

A problem, as underlined by the unions and workers, raised in recent weeks which should be at the center of a ministerial meeting scheduled for 23 October also because the meeting of the last few days "was resolved with yet another postponement". For this reason, starting from the 22nd the workers announced a sit in in front of the gates of the Portovesme factory which has been closed for 17 years due to high energy costs. «Postponing further does not mean saving: it means multiplying the bill, and the workers, the territory and the entire community would pay it».

«Workers and the territory no longer need announcements, they need deeds - they write again -. Let's say it clearly: on Friday 23 October we will not be able to go any further. There, the Government, and in particular the Mef, will have to guarantee the necessary allocations for the continuation of the operational management of the plant. These resources are not 'only' used to secure workers' wages: they are the very condition for securing the site."

Then a final passage: «It seems useful to remember it once again: preserving the asset is not a kind concession, it is a legal obligation on the part of whoever ordered and maintains the freezing. The Government cannot continue to act as a spectator to a crisis that it has caused and for which it bears full responsibility."