Former Ilva, the government is working on a decree for the safety of related industries

Extraordinary tools to guarantee the safety of the former Ilva related industries. The government is working with the aim of developing a decree focused on the protection of workers, which could take place through layoffs, accompanying measures and new jobs in Taranto. Hours preceding a new meeting with the unions at Palazzo Chigi, while on the sales front the possibility of an offer from the Italian consortium opens up, which could arrive in the first weeks of October, but which would remain oriented only on the cold storage area of ​​the plant.

Sources close to the commissioners reiterate that the government "has repeatedly reiterated its willingness to support players interested in the former Ilva", but "until the offers are revealed it will not be possible to talk about state participation".

After the confirmation of the Milanese judges for the stop of the hot area by the end of October, Fim, Fiom, Uilm and Usb were ready to meet the government already today, but the executive then decided to convene the table, for the 20th time since 23 October 2023 regarding the dispute, for Wednesday precisely to take advantage of the time available to define the measures to protect workers. The unions, as reiterated several times in recent days, aim to reiterate to the government to block layoffs again, but other requests are also coming from the region and the province of Taranto. "We need a special law for Taranto - said the president of Puglia Antonio Decaro -, within which there is a Taranto Agenda that takes into account the protection of employment levels and the need for a steel plant in the city to protect jobs in the future".

For the president of the province of Taranto Gianfranco Palmisano "the theme always remains that of an industrial plan, of a short, medium and long-term perspective that can guarantee workers first of all", defining as "now outdated" the issue of financial guarantees for waste and landfills, which had been the subject of the provision during one of the last meetings regarding the former Ilva in Rome. The lawyer Ascanio Amenduni, who promoted the injunction action initiated by eleven citizens belonging to the Genitori Tarantini association, which then resulted in the Court's decree, urged the government to "do more", asking for special treatment for those who have suffered exposure to harmful emissions for decades. According to the lawyer, "the final verdict of the Court of Appeal of Milan will eliminate all alibis for business and government policy regarding Ilva and will open the way for a relocation of work in a healthier and healthier context".

Pressure is also increasing on the political front. In the Senate, the 5 Star Movement asked for urgent information from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the dispute, receiving a practically immediate response from the Brothers of Italy. "On the former Ilva Pd and M5s today take the chair and attribute to the Meloni government responsibilities that belong to an industrial affair that began many years before", said senator Gianni Berrino, specifying how "the stop of the hot area came from a decision of the judiciary, not from Palazzo Chigi", while "the government has intervened several times to support industrial and employment continuity".

Meanwhile, the date of the stop of the activities of the hot area of ​​the Taranto plant is getting closer and closer, with the shutdown procedures that could start from tomorrow. To respect the effective closure established by the Court by the end of next month it is in fact necessary to start a suspension of the blast furnaces and cockeries in time, which must begin before the deadline set by the judges. In recent days the prime minister had assured that the government is continuing to do its best, despite "we are working with decisions that do not depend on us".