Tomorrow in Piombino there will be a strike and demonstration in the streets of the Tuscan city by over 1000 workers of the former Lucchini, who have been waiting for two years now for the implementation of the program agreement signed on 30 June 2015 for the revitalization of the industrial site
At the head of the procession that will cross the city together with the general secretaries of Fiom and Uilm, will be the general secretary of the Fim Cisl Marco Bentivogli, who will conclude the demonstration with a final rally in Piazza Verdi.
For the leader of the Fim Bentivogli: for two years now we have been witnessing continuous postponements and delays by the Algerian entrepreneur Issad Rebrab, for the implementation of the Piombino industrial plan. This situation causes particular concern among workers, their families and the local area, fueling a climate of distrust and uncertainty that is no longer tolerable.
As if that weren't enough, today the plant is practically at a standstill because even the rail train is blocked due to lack of raw materials. Production will presumably resume in the first days of April, while for the other rolling mills: Tmp and wire rod mills, which have been stopped for many months now, there is no immediate prospect of restarting.
It is evident that in this way the productive continuity of the company, which is essential for the maintenance of the solidarity contracts, is not guaranteed.
And furthermore - continues Bentivogli - the projects for the dismantling of the areas that would have given work also to related companies, now collapsing and which risk remaining outside the working circuit, have not started. Nothing positive, not even in terms of Logistics and Agro-industrial which are the other two pillars of the Piombino Industrial Plan, in addition to that on the steel industry, capable of guaranteeing future employment development also in other sectors together with the steel one.
This being the case – he continues – the role of the Government is decisive, which must guarantee the commitments made by signing the program agreement and the deed of transfer to Cevital.
The next meeting at the Ministry of Economic Development scheduled for March 27 will have to be decisive in order to understand if Cevital is a reliable interlocutor or if the government needs to find an alternative solution that guarantees financial sustainability and the industrial revitalization of Piombino and with it the full occupation.
For this reason - concludes Bentivogli - tomorrow's demonstration and strike are of particular importance for relaunching the dispute and respecting the agreements made. Our initiatives will end only when we have the guarantee and certainty that the second largest iron and steel pole in our country will return to producing steel.
