Not an industrial plan, but a restart. At the Confindustria headquarters, Acciaierie d’Italia illustrates interventions worth 400 million to the unions. The immediate objective is to restore normal conditions for the plants and create orderly management, which will allow the company to become safe again for its workers and attractive for potential investors. To present the document, the director Giuseppe Cavalli and the head of Human Resources, Claudio Picucciwho aim to sign an agreement with the unions by mid-June. The plan is divided into three phases: “construction site”; phase with one blast furnace; phase with two blast furnaces. 80 percent of the 400 million available will be invested in the Taranto plant. Furthermore, the management of a production plan is envisaged which, starting from 1.5 million tons per year, will reach 4 million tons per year after the summer, with the start-up of the second blast furnace, also in Taranto. Furthermore, a hot rolling train will be active in the plant in the Ionian capital, while all the cold rolling will go to Genoa, reaching 450 thousand tons per year after the summer and 600 thousand tons per year in Novi Ligure.
Worker involvement
“Securing the plants and keeping production active, having the support of the main customers and suppliers, was the preliminary step for us – observes Giuseppe Cavalli, CEO of Acciaierie d’Italia in extraordinary administration -. Now it is necessary to involve workers, giving them visibility of the next steps, making them involved in the restart plan and transmitting security and trust to them and their families. This will be precisely the central aspect that will be appreciated by potential buyers.”
From Ilva to IIA, the industrial crises that are never resolved
by Diego Longhin
The demands of the unions
The unions are open to new ideas, but do not hide doubts on some points. “Only one blast furnace will be in operation until next August, then there will be the restart of Afo2 – he says the general secretary of the Fim Cisl, Valerio D’Alò -. A maintenance plan has been illustrated for each individual system, there cannot be a restart of all the systems immediately, but this does not sound strange to us. There was also talk of layoffs, given that the new procedure will arrive we asked that it be managed differently than in the past. For us it is a first step that must lead to the restart of a giant that will have to be put in a position to be sold.” “Finally, clarity has been made, it is not an industrial plan, but a restart plan – he observes Loris Scarpa, national steelworks coordinator for Fiom CGIL -. We have raised the issue of the return to work of employees currently on redundancy pay. There was no mention of what will happen in 2025, of the visit of the companies interested in the purchase that Minister Urso talks about, nor of the destination of further financing. We think that the government should clarify on this point, the money is needed for maintenance, for the systems and to guarantee full employment”. For Uilm the plan must be improved. “We asked to ensure that all the plants can be maintained and restarted over time, while waiting to know the real industrial plan – he reports the general secretary Guglielmo Gambardella -. The current plant structure must be maintained and guaranteed, which is strictly linked to employment levels, without predetermining a different scenario from the 2018 agreement, the only one signed by the trade unions and voted by the workers. Furthermore, we believe that the company’s intention of wanting to integrate the income of workers on layoffs is positive and also the objective of guaranteeing maximum rotation so that no worker can be put on zero hours”. For USB, a complex but concrete plan was discussed for the first time. “It should certainly be underlined – observe Franco Rizzo and Sasha Coalutti – availability, openness to dialogue and the desire to continue in the territories, through moments of discussion in the individual plants”. For Antonio Spera, general secretary of the Uglmit is positive that a restart plan has been exposed, even if “we expected answers on the real employment situation of direct and indirect workers and on social safety nets”.
THE DISPUTE
Ex Ilva, another 150 million on the way, but no “shield” to protect potential buyers
by Raffaele Lorusso
The legal “shield” for buyers
Meanwhile, the Minister of Business, Adolfo Urso, from Parma, raises the question of the possible sale of the steel complex. “In a few weeks, some important companies in the sector, strategic on an international level, will visit the plants to complete their possible proposals of an obviously industrial nature – he states -. We are confident that the Italian steel industry can finally be resurrected, a leader in Europe also and above all at this moment in terms of green technology and therefore respect for the environment”. The minister also insists on the desire to recognize a legal “shield” for protect buyers from possible compensation actions by ArcelorMittal. The rule was removed from the Agriculture decree law, approved by the Council of Ministers, because some technical-legal aspects that appeared unconvincing to part of the government needed to be clarified. Starting from the need, before talking about sale, to extend the rental contract, which is close to expiring, of the plants, owned by Ilva in extraordinary administration, to Acciaierie d’Italia, which in turn has been placed under special administration. Urso announces that the rule will be proposed again during the parliamentary process of conversion of the decree.
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– 2024-05-09 20:49:44
