Measures to help the re-employment of workers with the exemption from contributions for those who will hire them, the decision to keep plants and blast furnaces 'heated', projects for the reindustrialisation of areas, a loan of 40.5 million and preferential lanes for development contracts: the government launches a new decree for the former Ilva with the aim also of attracting new investments. "Important protection is provided" - explains the Minister of Labor Marina Calderone - also for related workers.
But the workers' protest continues to the bitter end, with fires lit to warm the night and the permanent presence of workers who ask for real guarantees on work, on the future and on a concrete industrial plan, rejecting the prospect of being liquidated with redundancy payments alone. The blue suits of the former Ilva thus continue their mobilization, while the national Fim, Fiom and Uilm relaunch the fight initiative and proclaim another 48 hours of strike in all the former Ilva factories in the face of the Government's responses deemed insufficient. Meanwhile, the first response arrives at Palazzo Chigi. The approved decree envisages three strands: on the one hand the protection of employment, on the other the maintenance of the plants with a 'heating' activity, and finally a push for new investments.
Among the measures is a preferential track for development contracts which will have to commit to hiring former Ilva workers and related industries as a priority, with a rule that provides for exemption for employees of Acciaierie d'Italia and Ilva in As. Then comes resources for the territory: a last tranche of the 40.5 million loan for the company, but also 1 million euros a year for the Taranto technopole and the establishment of an industrial district Brindisi-Taranto to accelerate zero-emission technologies, promoting decarbonisation with simplified procedures. Then there is the objective of keeping the plants in pre-heating mode, without production, sterilizing the risk of a definitive shutdown while waiting for the Court of Cassation to rule on the appeals linked to the ruling of the Court of Appeal of Milan on 20 October.
In Taranto, the road block placed by workers along state roads 7 and 106 paralyzed goods traffic and ended up laying siege to the entrance to the Eni refinery, stopping the transit of tankers. If the plant, at the moment, continues to operate in normal and safe conditions, the time horizon for the next few days becomes tight: the continuation of road blocks prevents the arrival of the technical gases and chemical products necessary for the industrial cycle. Without these supplies, the only option on the table will be a scheduled shutdown of the refinery. The chain reaction in the area is already underway, with petrol stations running dry, urban public transport struggling for diesel and the first signs of criticality also recorded in Puglia's airports. Bari and Brindisi are already on alert due to the shortage of fuel for planes. Among the unions' requests there are measures to help retire those workers who are closest to the requirements, the recognition of strenuous work and incentives for voluntary exit. Coaches are scheduled for Thursday heading to Bari, to the Puglia region, for a summit with President Antonio Decaro.
The position remains firm: effective measures are needed to make workers safe and guarantee a real ecological transition process, without leaving the cold zone sectors uncovered. The dispute extends along the entire steel group's supply chain. In Genoa the workers demonstrated in front of the Prefecture during the meeting with the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi, asking for the purchase of hot coils on the international market to feed the processing lines in the factories of Genoa, Novi Ligure and Racconigi. The objective is to avoid layoffs for 985 employees starting from mid-November. As for the possibility of dividing the disputes between the northern factories and the Taranto site, the unions reply: "here there are no second-class workers, for us the workers are all the same, the group stays together and can only win in a united manner".
