TARANTO – «There is a revolt against the management of Acciaierie d’Italia, considered by the entire institutional and trade union panorama as unsuitable for managing the factory: it is not possible to get all those who are on layoffs to return to work, it is possible to balance the company’s budgets, there is a continuous need for the State to put in money and it is very heavy money at the moment ». This was stated by the president of the Puglia Region Michele Emiliano, today in Rome, during the demonstration against the management of the former Ilva organized by the trade unions in front of the Parliament. “I hope – concluded Emiliano – that this demonstration culminates with a hearing at the Environment commission and that all those who are demonstrating here in Rome in an orderly and peaceful manner are allowed to present their point of view. With the hope that a dialectic will start between Parliament, the Government and local institutions to reach a solution”.
«Personally, I have a good relationship with Minister Urso and he has all my understanding and collaboration. On this matter I started with Renzi, I moved on to Gentiloni, then Conte 1 and Conte 2, Draghi and now Meloni. It seems incredible that with the efforts that Italy produces for this factory, and with the pain and deaths that are inflicted on the people of Taranto, it is not possible to find the definitive solution for a plant considered strategic». This was stated by the president of the Puglia Region Michele Emiliano, today in Rome, during the demonstration against the management of the former Ilva organized by the trade unions in front of the Parliament. “We cannot – he added – but share the decision of the workers of the former Ilva of Taranto and of the local institutions to demonstrate in front of the Parliament to be heard by the Roman institutions which for years have been dragging us into painful situations for the workers and painful for those in family suffered deaths due to pollution and accidents at work. An important trial was not enough, with a sentence of great importance from the point of view of ascertaining crimes committed against health; many different governments and many presidents of the Council, without ever finding a definitive solution for a factory, which, by admission of all national institutions, is considered strategic”. “Despite this – he concluded – we continue to bear both the loss of health on the part of citizens and the loss of employment by workers and associated companies, who are all systematically subjected to unacceptable pressure ».
«The general dissatisfaction with the finance law increases considering that almost one billion euros available to Italian citizens will be handed over again to this management. We hope that this intervention by the State in the company will lead to the identification of a more shared management, which will finally allow us to have a loyal and totally correct relationship». This was stated by the president of the Puglia Region Michele Emiliano today in Rome, during the demonstration against the management of the former Ilva organized by the trade unions in front of the Parliament. “This – he added – is the position of all the local institutions, I believe without distinction of party. And above all it is the unitary position of the Puglia Region, the Municipality of Taranto, the Municipalities of the factory area and the trade unions. This is our idea on Acciaierie d’Italia and is the platform on which this event is taking place today».
THE WORD OF THE UNIONS
«We reiterate that the State, through Invitalia, must acquire public control and management of the plants to guarantee the correct management of the 680 million euros allocated and necessary for the recapitalization of Acciaierie d’Italia». This is what was underlined in a document that the secretaries of Fiom, Uilm and Usb of Taranto delivered today to the Commission for the Environment, Territory and Public Works of the Chamber, during a demonstration that was held in front of Montecitorio. The initiative was attended by trade union delegates, the president of the Puglia Region Michele Emiliano, the mayor and president of the Province of Taranto Rinaldo Melucci, some mayors of the Ionian area and various parliamentarians. Meanwhile, the unions confirm the mobilization initiative under Palazzo Chigi on 19 January on the occasion of the summit on the former Ilva convened by Minister Urso and the strike from 11pm on 18 January to 7am on 20 January. Fiom, Uilm and Usb consider the change of governance “indispensable since a plant considered to be of strategic national interest cannot be managed by those who have, in fact, impoverished a factory that is struggling to produce more than three million tons a year also due to the ‘absence of structural interventions and extraordinary and ordinary maintenance necessary to guarantee a future for the steel industry within a process of ecological transition which is becoming a fundamental challenge also for the current government”.
During the initiative in Montecitorio on the former Ilva of trade unions and local authorities and the meeting with the Commission for the Environment, Territory and Public Works of the Chamber, the territorial secretaries of Taranto of Fiom, Uilm and Usb Francesco Brigati, Davide Sperti and Francesco Rizzo have also presented the results of the referendum question submitted to the workers during the meetings in which the last Ilva-saving decree approved by the Council of Ministers was discussed. The workers of the iron and steel plant were asked if they were “in favor of a direct intervention by the State through an immediate recapitalization of the current management of Acciaierie d’Italia, in order to guarantee public resources for a relaunch of production and an unequivocal process of ecological and from an industrial perspective”. There were 6111 valid ballots out of 6326 voters. 6041 voted Yes (98.85%), while 70 voted No (1.15%), 92 invalid ballots and 123 blank ballots.
“The data that emerged from the referendum – observe the trade union organizations – gives us a clear will on the part of the workers to want to change the page and put an end to a management which, evidently, has shown that it has no interest in guaranteeing a serious relaunch of the iron and steel plant . For these reasons we believe it is necessary to open a phase of listening and discussion with the Government and Parliament, during the conversion phase of the Law Decree, so that strategic choices can be made to define industrial and environmental policies capable of relaunching not only Taranto, but the entire productive and manufacturing fabric of our country».
«The workers of the former Ilva together with their trade union organizations ask the government that the disbursement of new resources is not detached from an intervention regarding governance, in a company that even today sees a prominent role of a private entity who in these years has not guaranteed either the development of this production plant or the protection of employment levels.” This was stated by the national secretary of the Italian Left, Nicola Fratoianni, meeting the delegation of workers from the Apulian plant near Palazzo Chigi today in Rome to request to speed up public intervention.
«The workers are asking for a rebalancing and a greater centrality of the public role. I believe this is not only a fair request – concludes the leader of SI – but sacrosanct, which we will support in the competent parliamentary commissions”.
Ex Ilva, Emiliano speaks: “The management of Acciaierie Italia is unsuitable”