Ex Ilva, more laid off workers than workforce: 5,200 employees involved

Ex Ilva: negotiations begin for 5,200 redundancy payments

Negotiations on the extraordinary redundancy fund at Acciaierie d’Italia open this morning at the Ministry of Labor, with the company’s extraordinary administration, the former Ilva, the unions, the Government and the Regions where the steel plants are located, including Puglia and Liguria, in attendance. Fund for one year, with the possibility of extension, which already sees the numbers presented by the company: 5,200 total units of which 4,400 in Taranto.

This is a strong impact on the workforce if we consider that the former Ilva now has 9,869 employees and that 8,025 of these are in Taranto. Therefore, if these numbers were to be confirmed, those on temporary layoff risk becoming more than half of the workforcea very high share, while now the fund involves 3,000 employees of which 2,500 in Taranto. In all cases, we are talking about a maximum average number. For Acciaierie, the extraordinary administration led by the commissioners explains that with only one blast furnace in operation, the 4th, “production currently stands at volumes equal to max 1,000,000-1,500,000 tons per year”. There is a forecast of “gradual increase until reaching approximately 2,500,000-3,000,000 tons”, but it concerns “December 2024 following the restart of blast furnace 2”. It follows, for AdI, that “the current and expected production levels are not sufficient to guarantee financial balance and sustainability”.

For Acciaierie d’Italia the way out lies in the “progressive implementation of the program”, starting from the 330 million recovery plan, of which 280 related to restoration work in Taranto, to finish with the 320 million bridging loan, which is still awaiting approval from the European Commission. This program “will allow us to gradually reach the expected production levels and, upon completion, to fully utilize the workforce”, say the AdI commissioners. Today at the Ministry of Labor there will not be commissioners Fiori, Quaranta and Tabarelli, but only the general director Maurizio Saitta and the personnel director Claudio Picucci.

In the meantime, the company has sent signals of dialogue to the unions, anticipating that this time the management of the cash will be very different from that of Acciaierie under Mittal-Morselli traction, that the rotation of the staff on redundancy will be effective and that for the employees there will be an economic integration, still to be studied and quantified, to make the suspension from work less penalizing. Yesterday, finally, the national leaders of Fim, Fiom and Uilm wrote to Prime Minister Meloni and the ministers involved asking for the resumption of the discussion with the Government.