Ex Ilva, occupied plant in Genoa. 12 km queue on the A10. Fiom CGIL: 'Tonight we will sleep in the streets'

During the meeting, he pledged his strong commitment to working for a solution that would safeguard the future of employment and production. "As the Liguria region, we are absolutely determined. We want production to continue here, because there is a need for steel and because the tin that is made here is really high quality. So there is no point in going abroad when there is an Italian factory that can make it. This plant has a future and must not close'. These were the words of President Marco Bucci to the ex-Ilva workers in garrison. 'The complexity of this issue lies mainly in Taranto, to which we, like the other plants in northern Italy, are connected: either we make the connection work or we find another connection, there is no other choice. If you don't want to make products like coils in Taranto, you have to find someone to make them or make the Cornigliano plant capable of producing them'. "We are in constant contact with the government, which is following the matter very closely. In the attempt to achieve an overall sale of the company, demands have emerged that are not good for Genoa, since the companies that participated in the tender have set certain conditions for buying everything. If there are different conditions for those who only want to buy a piece, we will have to look into this hypothesis as well. - continued the Regional President - Given the situation, we must begin to address the hypothesis of a separate sale of the various parts of the company, while also continuing to work on the overall sale. As far as Liguria is concerned, I am committed to working on both paths'.

"We are following the situation regarding the Novi Ligure, Racconigi and Gattinara plants step by step. The government and the region are doing everything in their power, but it is clear that the Taranto municipality's opposition to the docking of the regasification ship, which can guarantee an adequate level of production even in this phase of uncertainty, risks putting thousands of workers in difficulty and hindering an indispensable path to make the Ilva tender truly attractive to solid entrepreneurs. We need institutional responsibility, not ideological escapes'. This was stated by the President of the Piedmont Region, Alberto Cirio, the Vice-President of the Piedmont Region, Elena Chiorino, and the Councillor for Logistics, Enrico Bussalino, on the recent developments concerning the former Ilva.

"We understand the wounds of the territory," they said, "but we believe that there may also be other solutions that allow us to preserve the more than sacrosanct right to health, and that continuing along this path means denying any possibility of redemption. We welcome the government's decision not to further increase the redundancy fund and to focus instead on training: this is the right path. Training workers today on new green steel technologies means putting them in a position to be protagonists of the relaunch, not victims of waiting. Piedmont is there: we are ready to collaborate with the government and put in place all the tools at our disposal to accompany the workers'.

Pneumatici in fiamme alla manifestazione degli operai ex Ilva dopo la rottura della trattative con il governo, Cornigliano (Genova), 19 novembre 2025. ANSA/LUCA ZENNARO

Ex Ilva, strike from Wednesday. Trade unions: 'A sense of responsibility was lacking'

"We broke off, declared 24 hours of strike starting Wednesday, with assemblies. Because our doubts have become certainties. It's a disaster'. So said the secretary general of Uilm, Rocco Palombella, at the end of the meeting on the former Ilva at Palazzo Chigi, referring to the decision of the unions and claiming that 'the plan leads to the closure of the former Ilva. The sense of responsibility of the institutions and the government has been lacking'.

"We have asked the government to withdraw a plan that stops all the cold areas, which seems to us to be the prospect of closing the plant to make it available to potential buyers, which as of today there are none," while "the industrial plan that we discussed in July and shared with the commissioners and the government is in fact no longer there in the new announcement, there is a total downsizing and this for us means opening a clash, instead of the element of alliance that had seen us play an important game with the government. Today these conditions are not there and so we are going to the clash,' declared Ferdinando Uliano, general secretary of Fim, at the end of the trade union-government table. 'There is nothing,' Uliano reiterates, 'there is not even a different design' and with respect to potential buyers 'today there are none. We have reiterated the request to the government to make itself a company, if this is a strategic asset'.

Here is the official note of the Government, issued after the meeting:
"During the meeting at Palazzo Chigi between the Government and the trade unions on the former Ilva, the Executive clarified that there will be no further extension of the redundancy fund, thus accepting the main request made by the same unions during the previous round. Alternatively, appropriate training courses will be identified for workers, including those already in the redundancy fund. The training will serve to make workers acquire the necessary skills to process steel produced with the new green technologies.

The government also confirmed its full willingness to concentrate resources on plant maintenance to make workers safe and increase production capacity in the future.

The Executive then took stock of the status of the negotiations for the sale of the Group and expressed its willingness to keep the talks open.

The meeting was chaired by the Undersecretary to the Prime Minister's Office, Alfredo Mantovano, and attended on behalf of the government by the Minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, the Minister for Labour and Social Policies, Marina Calderone, the Minister for European Affairs, Cohesion Policies and the National Reform Programme, Tommaso Foti, and the Councillor for Relations with Social Partners, Stefano Caldoro. Representatives from the regions of Puglia, Liguria and Piedmont also took part remotely.

For the unions, representatives of Fiom Cgil, Fim-Cisl, Uilm-Uil, Ugl metalmeccanici, Usb and Federmanager were present. Representatives of Invitalia, the extraordinary commissioners of Acciaierie d'Italia and the extraordinary commissioners of the Ilva Group also attended the meeting.

"The situation of the former Ilva that emerged from yesterday's summit at Palazzo Chigi is, if possible, even more worrying than the picture we already knew." This was underlined by the president of the Province of Taranto, Gianfranco Palmisano. 'We are alarmed,' he adds, 'by the growing uncertainties regarding the numbers of the 'cassa integrazione', which risk overwhelming hundreds of families. The workers' protests in Genoa and the expectation for the initiative planned tomorrow in Taranto become for Palmisano 'the unmistakable signal of the ongoing social tension', a bell that can no longer be ignored. The president takes note of the programme announced by the company on the training and retraining of 1550 workers to be started during plant maintenance, but warns: 'Training is crucial for transition and safety, but it cannot become a smokescreen for a further dramatic increase in social shock absorbers'. Then the final warning: 'Taranto cannot afford further increases in redundancy payments. Our economic and social fabric is already tested by years of crisis and production uncertainties that fall on the shoulders of employees and our community'.