Former Ilva, no agreement with the unions on layoffs

No agreement between Italian steel mills and unions on the redundancy fund extraordinary inex Ilva. This is how the discussion today, 10 November, at the Ministry of Labor ended. Instead, agree on the methods and timing of disbursement of the financial compensation, which will be paid directly by INPS and no longer anticipated by the company as has happened up to now. However, there is no agreement on the cash that AdI requested for 9,622 employees of the group, of which approximately 6,800 Taranto.

Ex Ilva, Fiom Cgil: “There were no conditions for a fund for 8622 people”

“We said that there were no conditions to agree on a fund for 8,622 people“. Loris Scarpa of Fiom CGIL says this when he leaves the Ministry of Labour. Furthermore, he adds, there are “repercussions for the related industries and the prospects of the factories are not yet clarified – says Scarpa -. This is a direct payment fund – adds Fiom on the INPS payment – and this is a problem for workers big problem“. Furthermore, adds Scarpa, “we have no response on all our other requestsboth social and with regards to health, safety and the environment. It will still be a long process of discussion. We hope that the next meeting at Palazzo Chigi will be as soon as possible and we can begin to gain some clarity.”

Ex Ilva, Fim Cisl: “Confident of the commitment”

For Valerio D’Alò of Fim Cisl, the meeting of 10 November at the Ministry of Labor “was a technical and not political meeting. It was necessary to go into detail about how the redundancy fund must work, which is extraordinary not for its wording, but for the conditions that give rise to it but, above all, for the numbers it brings. Having all these units of workers entails a INPS’ commitment is absolutely important, outside the normal patternsand we have had reassurances on this. The next 12th, “payment day, will be the testing ground but we are confident in the commitment made and we also appreciate the desire to postpone this meeting, so that there was the presence of INPS at its most important technical levels”.

For D’Alò, “there could not be union agreement on an agreementbecause that would mean sharing the purposes and motivations that lead us to discuss the cash register. For us, the shutdown of all the plants, regardless of the reason, regardless of whether or not there was a decision by the Court of Cassation, is absolutely unacceptable”. As for the two offers received for the former Ilva, D’Alò underlined that “we are happy that there is an Italian group (Arvedi, ed.) whose solidity and seriousness we know. We are also seeing other investments in the area, but there is a need to have the meeting at Palazzo Chigi so that these aspects are clarified”. For the union, however, “the social aspects are still missing from the point of view of the demanding jobs as we were promised, the incentives for exodus are missing, but this is not the solution, because you exit the redundancy fund with work and the territory of Taranto above all that we need to relaunch the production of eco-compatible steel rather than chasing sirens that only lead to desertification”.

Ex Ilva, Uilm: “Hours of useful discussions to make precise commitments”

According to Guglielmo Gambardella of Uilmthe “many hours of discussion” at the Ministry of Labor “were useful for making precise commitments both from INPS and from the company to better manage this painful and dramatic case for the numbers”. “The company – he continues – has hired a important commitment in terms of communications and obligations that must be made to INPS to ensure that payments are made on time for the next deadlines. We cannot afford even a day’s delay in disbursement of the subsidy.”

According to Uilm, “they will be tables have been set up between the company and the unions in all offices for the management of the CGS and an information and a roadmap of the processing of the procedures by the INPS to respond to all the needs of individual workers on the new direct payment method by the social security institution. At this point, we must immediately follow up on the commitments undertaken by the Government in the minutes of 27 October.”

For Gambardella, there is “not just one to be built industrial perspective with the commitment of the Statebut also compensation interventions for workers starting from early retirement, recognition of strenuous work and voluntary incentives for redundancy. For this reason, as already requested, an update of the Palazzo Chigi table is urgently needed. We will continue to implement all initiatives for the protection of workers while waiting to be able to verify the industrial plan of the industrial entity that will be chosen by the AdI commissioners for the exclusive negotiation. In the discussion – he concludes – they will have to be including Ilva workers in AS and the contract“.

Ex Ilva, Usb: “What we expected didn’t happen”

“We did not sign the minutes of today’s meeting which held together a technical analysis of the new redundancy payment system and the joint examination of the same”, declares the USB union at the end of the meeting at the ministry. “We recognize the commitment shown by the technicians of the Ministry of Labor and the INPS, as well as the hiring of thecommitment to work together so that workers receive payments on time. Apart from this, what we expected didn’t happen. We hoped, but in vain – notes Usb – that the company would pay in advance, guaranteeing quick turnaround times. Furthermore, today we would have liked to open the discussion on the proposals we have put forward to alleviate redundancies: incentives for redundancies, recognition of strenuous work and asbestos, public utility works and early retirement”. “Today it would have also been necessary go into detail about the changes which in our opinion should be added to the decree currently being converted on extraordinary measures for the procurement. None of this”, concludes Usb.

Ex Ilva, related companies: “Important signal from the two purchase offers”

Meanwhile, the former Ilva related companies, associated with Aigi-Aepi, “welcome the presentation of two offers for the purchase of the Acciaierie d’Italia plants. After months of uncertainty, the arrival of concrete expressions of interest is an important signal for Taranto, for the workers and for the related businesses, which have long been experiencing the consequences of a dead-end crisis first-hand”. Nicola ConvertinoPresident Aigi.
“We have I’ve been waiting for a passage like this for a long time – declares the president Nicola Convertino – and now it is essential that the commissioners evaluate the offers with speed, transparency and the utmost rigor, putting industrial relaunch, the protection of employment and the full recognition of the credits of related companies at the centre”.

Aigi expresses “in particular appreciation for the proposal presented by Arvedi and for the group’s willingness to open a discussion with the institutions and with the Taranto community. It is an approach that we share – continues Convertino – because Taranto can no longer be a place where decisions are made from above. Arvedi is an entrepreneur who produces and enhances Made in Italy: it is exactly what this area needswhich asks for real work, investments and long-term prospects”.

For Aigi, the group has “demonstrated, in the places where it has established its production activities, that it knows how to enhance the territory also through philanthropic initiatives and support for local communities. Actions of this type – concludes President Convertino – could also be useful in our area, starting with an interest in Taranto Calcio, because the factory and the city must walk together again. Aigi – he concludes – will continue to carefully follow the evolution of the procedure, maintaining a constant dialogue with commissioners, Government, local and parliamentary institutions to protect all companies and all workers in the related industries”.