Terme di Acqui in crisis, attempts to save workers and ensure reopening
The Piedmont Region of Piedmont has opened a table to seek a solution for the historical centre privatised in 2015 - New meeting on 27 January
A difficult moment for the future of the Terme di Acqui, a historical pole of the Italian spa system, which has reached a difficult juncture on the eve of the expiry of the concessions for health activities next April, with the owners - Finsystems, controlled by the Pater family - opening bankruptcy proceedings for the five employees of the facility.
Trade unions and institutions are in the field to seek a structural solution and relaunch the Lower Piedmont site, which employs 15 seasonal workers and risks not opening its doors next spring. The Region's idea is to regain control of the company, privatised in 2015, when the concession of the spa complexes, including the New Establishments and the Grand Hotel, was sold to the Pater family.
On the dispute, the region has opened a crisis table and during the last meeting, the councillor for labour and vice-president Elena Chiorino assured that 'no worker will be left behind, as a region we are ready to guarantee employment continuity for the workers of Acqui Terme. The idea is to put on track a mechanism for hiring the workers, who are now on permanent contracts, to manage the coming months.
The situation for the 15 seasonal employees - all professionals to be protected, say the unions and the region - is more delicate because they would risk being left without any cover if the spa does not reopen. For them, they are working on the hypothesis of a transfer at the expense of the regional health service but with temporary contracts.
The crux of the matter is the expiry of the thermal water concession for sanitary use next April and the current manager's request for support to carry out the necessary renovation work on the historical spa centre, quantified at this initial stage at around 200,000 euro. This is a delicate issue because the owner has challenged the expiry of the concession, which was initially perennial and then became 'fixed term', before the Regional Administrative Court.
