“The situation ofex Ilva is serious. Prime Minister Meloni knows it, ministers Fitto and Urso know it. Without investments there is no future”. L'alarm comes from Franco Bernabè, President of Steelworks of Italy in an interview given to La Stampa in which the manager states that the Italian steel plant risks dying of starvation. “The government launched an important measure on 10 August, guaranteeing production continuity, but other steps are needed. Survival must be guaranteed: the steel mills cannot finance themselves, they cannot purchase raw materials, there is great suffering due to low production levels. I repeat: the urgency is to make resources available immediately", continued the president, in office at the former Ilva since 2021.
Bernabé: “Time is up or what we have left is very short”
For the manager, time is running out and the government must act immediately. “The decalage envisaged by the EU on the free green certificates that Acciaierie d'Italia must possess to produce with the current plants will start in 2026. If we have not decarbonised Taranto we will have to purchase green certificates and this will mean going out of the market", continued Bernabé.
“The provision of last August is important because it will allow the company to be financed following the acquisition of the assets from Ilva under extraordinary administration. When Acciaierie d'Italia owns the assets, the banks will be able to finance it, but this will take time and the group risks dying first." And again: “We have been stuck on decarbonisation for a year and a half because there is no money”.
Palazzo Chigi calls the unions before the strike
Thursday September 28st the acronyms Fim, Fiom and Uilm have called one strike of 24 hours of all staff with care of the concierge. A very tough stance, also because the date was not chosen by chance: on that day the company will host the main steel industrialists and customers in Taranto for a commercial roadshow. AND Palazzo Chigi runs for cover, or at least tries: the unions have been summoned Wednesday 27 September for a table with the ministers concerned. The meeting welcomes the request of the national leaders of Fim Cisl, Fiom Cgil and Uilm who on 20 September wrote to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and to the ministers Urso, Fitto, Giorgetti, Pichetto Fratin and Calderone, reporting that the company, "starting since the takeover of ArcelorMittal management, is experiencing a phase of abandonment and dangerous decline destined in a very short time to deliver it to an irreversible state of shutdown with very serious employment as well as industrial consequences, without taking into account the numerous accidents that occur daily in the places of work and which put the safety of workers at risk."
