The draft of the decree law for the former Ilva of Taranto is ready and could be examined by the Council of Ministers on Friday 20 December. From a 50 million fund for former Ilva workers to 100% relief for those who will take on the redundancies of the iron and steel hub, to new agreements starting from January 2020: these are the main items of the 21 articles which make up the first draft of the Taranto decree, which also provides for the "productive conversion" of the city, a new site of national interest that also includes the Statte area and a new commissioner for reclamation. Among the other measures are the protection of cetaceans for which we are talking about 250 thousand euros in 2020 and free screenings - also exempt from the ticket - for the early diagnosis of diseases related to pollution.
The package of measures for what has been defined as the 'Cantiere Taranto' is still in the technical and political evaluation phase and at the moment also without coverage. To manage the problem of redundancies, starting with the workers who have already remained in charge of the commissioner management of the former Ilva, various hypotheses are being studied, including that of providing incentives, with a bonus, for those who have to accept a new job away from Taranto and that of strengthening the incentives for workers to take advantage of the redeployment allowance. The provision, in fact, expands the benefits in the case of a redeployment allowance both on the worker side and on the side of the company it hires: it intervenes on the Irpef exemption by raising it up to 12 months instead of nine; the contribution is raised from 50% to 100% as regards the wage integration treatment; the contribution exemption is 50% for fixed-term employment up to 4.030 euros per year and 100% for permanent employment.
According to the technical report to the decree, the incremental annual hirings from the extraordinary redundancy fund are estimated at 1.110, of which 330 with permanent contracts: i70%, according to the technical report, would occur in 2020 and 30% in 2021 (a transformation rate from fixed-term contracts to permanent contracts of 50% is assumed). The allocated funds amount to 30,7 million in the two-year period. Also in this case, compensation is provided for those who accept a job far from their residence: workers who accept a job offer more than 150 kilometers away from their residence are paid a monthly contribution for relocation expenses , for 12 months, equal to the treatment of NASpI - monthly unemployment benefit - which would have been paid.
The redundancies of the former Ilva which, according to the Government, could be reabsorbed by the permanent job market are 2.755, only 21% of the entire audience concerned equal to 13.117 units. The estimate emerges from the technical report to the Taranto law decree, in which the Government allocates 37,2 million in the two-year period 2020-2021 for 100% relief intended for those who hire NASpI workers fired by Ilva-Arcelor Mittal (and another 17,4, 2022 million in 2020), reliefs that should have "an attractive effect" for employers: "Whoever hires workers in the years 2021 and 36 with a permanent employment contract is recognized, for a period not exceeding 100 months, without prejudice to the calculation rate of pension benefits, the exemption from paying 8.060% of social security contributions payable by the employer, with the exclusion of premiums and contributions due to Inail, up to a maximum amount of XNUMX euros on an annual basis”, reads the draft.
As for the former workers of the Apulian iron and steel hub, the decree provides funds for layoffs and family allowances for the 576 workers since 2017 at the Agency for the administration of work in the port and professional retraining and layoffs by way of derogation extended to 12 months for the Regions. Always in consideration of the "critical employment situation" the Ministry of Defense will hire 2020 specialized workers in the three-year period 2022-315 to "revitalize" the military maritime arsenal of Taranto. The recovery of the VAT is foreseen for the creditor companies against the extraordinary administration, 5 million for the demolition of illegal structures for the redevelopment of the Old City of Taranto and a fund for the valorisation of the city's bands and orchestras. It is also envisaged to allocate the share of the IMU on state-run warehouses to the Municipality.
But the draft of the provision does not lack references to objectives that place the environmental question as a priority: the decree provides for a regulatory intervention to strengthen the special economic zones in relation to the last mile and greenways infrastructure plan. The intervention is aimed at speeding up the completion of the existing infrastructures, of the unfinished public works functional to the development of the territories, whose degree of progress is at least 60% and whose completion has been delayed for reasons attributable to the authorization process or any seizures. The lists of works must be approved by the Cipe which orders the allocation of funds. For new infrastructures, 2 million will be allocated in 2020 and 5 million for each of the years 2021 and 2022 from the resources of the Development and Cohesion Fund. A further benefit in favor of the special economic zones is foreseen for the green infrastructures aimed at tourism and soft non-motorised mobility, so-called greenways, built on disused railway lines, to which 2 million will be allocated in 2020, 13 million in 2021 and 13 million in 2022. Other funds from the Maneuver are intended to "enhance the cultural identity of the city of Taranto", such as recovery, restoration, sustainable reuse and urban regeneration interventions, in particular of the archaeological, including underwater, historical, artistic and architectural areas , naturalistic, landscape and environmental for 100 thousand euros in 2020, 5 million in 2021 and 10 million in 2022.
The draft also talks about the creation of a University Pole of Taranto for environmental sustainability and for the prevention of occupational diseases, with funding of 9 million a year for three years. The extension of the Agency for the administration of work in the port and for professional retraining until 2022 is also being evaluated, in which about 530 workers made redundant from container handling companies have converged.
As for the issue of health, an extraordinary program of prevention and assistance is envisaged for the population of Taranto which allocates 10,5 million a year for monitoring activities, according to a program defined by the Puglia Region, voluntary and free screening (exempt from ticket) for the early diagnosis of pathologies related to environmental pollutants, epidemiological investigations. Furthermore, a plan for the recruitment of medical personnel is envisaged, with an allocation of 12 million in 2021 and 15 million in 2022: 75 doctors, 61 nurses and 22 health technicians will be hired in the first year; the second 90 doctors, 80 nurses and 34 health technicians.
