Ex Ilva: in Taranto there is an indefinite strike, Eni gate blocked. Bari-Rome self-convocation

The 24-hour strike underway in Taranto by the direct and indirect workers of the former Ilva is expanding, becoming indefinite for now, and also involving the nearby Eni refinery.

After the assembly that began this morning at 7, workers and union delegates decided to block the Eni gate, the one from which the vehicles for fuel supply exit.

An adjacent road link as well as an Eni service station near the refinery were also blocked.

Traffic on the state road 106 Taranto-Metaponto-Reggio Calabria has been interrupted.

We also announce the self-convocation in Bari and Rome, under the headquarters of the Puglia Region and the Government.

Self-convocation which could take place on Wednesday and Friday respectively if no signals arrive from Palazzo Chigi.

Specifically, if a new call does not arrive after the meeting already held on 8 October.

The decision to escalate the protest was taken after this morning's meeting.

The unions - the strike is called by the acronyms Fim, Fiom, Uilm and Usb - are asking the Government to modify the decree law which should be approved by the Council of Ministers tomorrow since the current version, considered "inadequate", contains only the redundancy fund for direct and indirect workers ex Ilva and does not accept the other union requests.

The acronyms, in fact, have asked for recognition of the exhausting nature of work in the steel mill and of exposure to asbestos and polluting agents, with the possibility of retiring early, as well as economic incentives for those who voluntarily intend to leave the former Ilva and resign.

But, above all, the metalworking acronyms have requested guarantees on the company's prospects through decarbonization and electric furnaces.

The strike is also involving Genoa.

Mayor Silvia Salis in the procession with the workers.

“At the end of the meeting, the workers blocked the Eni gate in Taranto.

We are activating an indefinite strike, but the objective is to self-convene under the headquarters of the Puglia Region and under the headquarters of the Government if the summons do not arrive today", declares Luigi Bennardi, secretary of Uilm Taranto.

“We are here to ask the Government to resume the decree law because we believe that the measures that have been inserted are insufficient”, says Biagio Prisciano, secretary of Fim Cisl Taranto.

“We - he continues - want to talk about work and not just redundancy payments, work that must be respectful of the environment and health.

We must then also associate with this the extraordinary tools that serve to accompany workers - says Prisciano -, but we must also talk about industrial, social, employment and environmental prospects.

Taranto and the workers deserve respect.

And the Government must intervene with a strong public intervention so that we can guarantee such a complicated period, the safety measures, the transition that the plant needs and look to a future that is not just made up of cash".

For Francesco Brigati, secretary of Fiom Cgil Taranto, "we need to address the issue of extraordinary measures for workers, because the last meeting at Palazzo Chigi did not provide the solutions we expected.

This issue must be addressed together with the ecological transition process and decarbonisation.

Financial resources are needed and the only solution to overcome the difficulties we are experiencing is to guarantee public intervention to start both the transition and decarbonisation".