Former Ilva workers to hold a 24-hour strike on Monday at all sites

The government’s aim is to produce green steel using a DRI plant and electric furnaces, provided this forms part of a credible industrial plan, the Under-Secretary explained.

Meanwhile, with effect from 9 October, all production activities at the hot-rolling mills of the former Ilva plant in Taranto will be suspended, according to Acciaierie d’Italia in As, in a statement sent to the prefect, local authorities and law enforcement agencies.

The decision is said to stem from compliance with the order of the Milan Court of Appeal dated 27 July, following the rejection – notified on 5 October – of the application for a stay of execution.

The company is also applying for social safety net measures. The plants will be kept in ‘hot standby’ mode whilst awaiting the decision of the Court of Cassation.

However, “in the absence” of a favourable decision, on 24 October the hot-holding process will also be “suspended”, with the hot area being permanently shut down by 25 October, “with no possibility” of it being restarted at a later date. “Just a few hours before the government’s meeting with the trade unions, Acciaierie d’Italia is rushing to announce the implementation of the workers’ redundancy scheme at a time that serves only to exacerbate tensions in an already dramatic situation, the consequences of which are likely to fall solely on the workers and the local communities where they work”, warns the President of the Puglia Region, Antonio Decaro, expressing the hope that the government “will be able to avert this scenario”.

Furthermore, Adi 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,” thunder 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,” denounced Salis.

“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”, stated Marco Bucci, President of the Liguria Region, and Alberto Cirio, President of the Piedmont Region. On entering Palazzo Chigi for talks with the government, the trade unions made it clear that the closure of the former Ilva sites is “unacceptable”. “The workers have shown a great sense of responsibility, and so we must ensure that the cost of decisions and mistakes for which the workers are not responsible is not passed on to all the workers at the former Ilva site,” said Michele de Palma, General Secretary of Fiom-Cgil.

According to the USB, a country’s industrial strategy “is not decided by the judiciary”. “The government is very adept at manoeuvring within this kind of narrative; we know that this has become a very convenient excuse for avoiding discussion of the real problems and of what is happening right now in Taranto,” emphasised Sasha Colautti, a member of the USB’s national executive.