Trade unions representing workers at
the former ILVA steelworks in Taranto on Tuesday called an
eight-hour strike following a meeting with the government which
took place the day after a ruling by a Milan court increased
uncertainty about the future of the plant.
The court upheld a motion presented on health grounds by ten
members of a parents' association and a child with a rare
genetic mutation and ruled that activity at the plant must stop
within three months unless all the asbestos on the site is
removed and measures to bring particulate emissions within safe
limits are taken.
The ruling, which has heightened fears of job losses, came at a
delicate phase in negotiations to sell the plant, which Indian
group Jindal and US-based private investment group Flacks are
interested in buying.
After Monday's ruling, Premier Giorgia Meloni's cabinet approved
€100 million in funding to keep the steelworks afloat for the
time being.
The Taranto factory, once Europe's biggest steelworks, has been
dogged by economic problems in recent years and linked to high
cancer rates in the Puglia port city.
ADI, the group that owns the Taranto plant, was put into
State-controlled administration early in 2024 after
ArcelorMittal's ownership of the group ended acrimoniously.
"The (Milan) ruling exacerbates a situation of total
uncertainty, but we say that rulings should not be disputed,
they should be applied," said Davide Sperti of the Uilm union.
"If there is a health risk, the workers are the first to be
exposed to it.
"This is why we have been calling for extraordinary protection
and compensation measures for years, starting with a special law
that gives workers back what they have lost".
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