Count with the workers

  • Arcelor Mittal, Count in Taranto to meet the workers: crowd in front of the plant
  • Arcelor Mittal, Count at Porta a Porta: "The goal is that ex Ilva go ahead, we'll see how"
  • Arcelor Mittal. Patuanelli: "Offer envisaged the expiry of criminal immunity"
  • ArcelorMittal, accounts in the red. Total break with the government. Conte convenes the unions
  • Conte: the government's priority is to revive Ilva and Taranto
  • Conte: if ArcelorMittal retires, the first step is commissioner management at the Mise

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08 November 2019Giuseppe Conte puts his face. With a blitz organized in a few hours that led to the cancellation of the meeting with the president of Lithuania, Gitanas Nauseda, the premier flies to Taranto to talk to the workers on strike after the farewell of Arcelor Mittal. The Apulian city is evidently split in two: one outside the former Ilva plant which asks for its closure, confirming a sharp 'no' to the penal shield for Indians, the other inside, in permanent council, which instead awaits solutions quick from the executive, without giving up just one worker.

Conte is greeted by a real crush. There are the citizens of the Tamburi district and the cassintegrati, all united by a single voice: "Ilva must be closed, enough talk". And then again "here are more dead than children. We want to live. Go to the hospital. Go see the kids doing chemo." The prime minister struggles to come forward "I'm here to listen to everyone", he says trying to put down the most turbulent minds. The sentence, however, outside the company, does not discount either the government or Mittal: "No shield, Ilva must be closed". The President of the Council listens carefully, but does not deny that he does not have a solution in his pocket. "I almost felt the urge to stay in here - the worker replies to the prime minister who asks about his work situation - in this factory there are still 100 thousand tons of asbestos. I was unjustly fired just because I reminded Mittal and factory doctor what the law on activities in the presence of asbestos provides ". And the solution? Asks Count. "The closure should be scheduled or only the cold area should be saved", is the reply.

After about an hour of siege, the premier enters the structure, taking with him a long procession. And it is here that the other Taranto is manifested, that of the workers who do not want to go home and who demand a new Ilva. Conte, sitting on a bench, takes part in the permanent council of Fim, Fiom and Uilm, and the climate is totally different. From the "does not represent us" we pass to the applause and satisfaction: "We are happy that he came". The chief of the executive does not hide, the solution "short manu" is not there. Mittal has not yet dissolved the reserve, but on one thing the workers must be certain: "The dossier is a priority for the government, but we must manage it all together, not only the government, but also you". The room is packed, even here the prime minister does not tire of listening to the more than 200 participants in the CDF, as he does not give up on what for him is the only strategy to follow: "Fight this battle all together, as a country system" . However the message to Mittal must be clear: "If you ask to come to Italy you are welcome, if you sign a contract you that contract, that commitment respects it, in terms of employment and environment".

The whole government, all the ministers, insists, I perfectly agree with this approach: "We must enter into a path that has turned out to be vicious and now we must try to get out of it. We must evaluate a future of this establishment that is responsible and sustainable".