The occupation in Genoa

Dozens of ex Ilva workers suddenly entered the Prefecture of Genoa on 14 October, leaving the protest camp they had held for three days in largo Eros Lanfranco. They say they are waiting for government guarantees that the Genoa Cornigliano plant will keep producing, and none have arrived so far. Inside, they sat in the entrance hall and on the second floor, banging their helmets and chanting that Genoa's Ilva will not close. According to reports, the protesters planned to sleep in the prefecture overnight. The action came on the third day of an open-ended strike proclaimed by the unions Fim Cisl, Fiom Cgil and Uilm Uil.

The government and the northern plants

Adolfo Urso, Italy's minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, told question time in the Chamber of Deputies that the northern area could be separated from the Taranto site, an option already foreseen in the ongoing tender update. He said nobody had yet made a proposal for the northern plants as a whole. Some groups had expressed interest in the entire production complex, while others had asked only for individual plants. Urso added that the separation could still be pursued in the final days before binding bids close on 9 November.

Nobody has made a proposal for the entire northern plants.

Alessandro Pagano, general secretary of the Genoa Chamber of Labour, said workers will not accept a production stop at Genoa, at Taranto or at the other plants involved, and will not accept social safety nets as a substitute. The proposed temporary closure of the northern plants from 15 November is at the centre of the dispute. A decree approved by the Council of Ministers extends the special wage guarantee fund, known as cassa straordinaria in deroga, to all workers including contractors' staff, a request Fiom had made. Michele De Palma, Fiom general secretary, said the measure was important but not enough, and called for longer protection and a social transition plan for voluntary exits.

It is urgent to reopen talks to respond to the risk of growing tension after three days of strikes and protests at all ex Ilva plants.

Taranto roads, fuel and airports

At Taranto, workers blocked the state roads 7 Appia and 106 Jonica and the gates of the Eni refinery for a third day, spending another night outdoors around bonfires. Production in the hot area of the steelworks is due to be fully suspended by 25 October, and the protest began after that suspension started. Kyma Mobilità, the city's public transport company, had announced on the evening of 13 October that buses would run only school services in two time bands. At dawn, protesters opened a passage at the refinery so diesel could reach the buses, and Kyma thanked them for their responsibility. Aeroporti di Puglia reported supply problems for the airports of Bari, Brindisi, Foggia and Grottaglie, but no general flight suspensions had been communicated. The decree keeps some plants on hot standby until the Court of Cassation rules, and includes reindustrialisation and employment measures. Workers are waiting for a meeting on 15 October in Bari with Puglia region president Antonio Decaro, and warn that the blockades will continue without concrete guarantees.

Genoa's institutions and the demand for a written deal

Marco Bucci, president of the Liguria region, went to the workers near Genoa Brignole station that morning to express solidarity. Armando Palombo, the Fiom coordinator of the union workplace representatives at Acciaierie d'Italia in Genoa, said there was no concrete news yet, although ministry, prefecture and union officials were working on a joint document. Some institutional meetings planned in Rome for 17:00 had been moved to the morning.

The day will be long, we will keep making ourselves heard and seen until a signed written agreement arrives.

Palombo also argued that if no court order affects Genoa or the north, keeping the plants shut makes no sense, and asked for steel rolls and finished products to be worked immediately, or slabs from Taranto. At piazza De Ferrari, a protest representative said local institutions had backed the workers but the government still had not made a move, and the crowd chanted where the government was. The march then moved through the city centre and paralysed traffic around the Brignole junction.