Fim Cisl, Fiom Cgil, Uilm Uil and Usb ended the blockades on the SS106 at the Eni refinery and on the SS7, while the strike ends at 23:00 on 16 October.
Zero-hour cassa integrazione notices began in Milan and reached Taranto, against a current authorisation for 4,500 group workers, 3,800 of them in Taranto.
Palazzo Chigi has convened the unions for 27 October at 17:00, following the joint platform agreed with Puglia's regional government on 15 October.
The draft decree gives contractor workers cassa integrazione of under one year and no arduous-work recognition, while direct staff are covered for 2026 and 2027.
A Court of Cassation decision is expected on 20 October, and Minister Adolfo Urso spoke of openings in the court's position on the blast furnaces.
The fifth day of strike and mobilisation at the Taranto steelworks run by Acciaierie d'Italia, the former Ilva plant, has involved direct staff and contractor workers protesting the start of the shutdown of the hot area and the resulting halt in production. Fim Cisl, Fiom Cgil, Uilm Uil and Usb called the strike, which ends at 23:00 on 16 October. At a morning assembly held on the Appia state road, workers and union representatives decided to lift the blockades at the Eni refinery on the SS106 and on the SS7 near the plant, without waiting for the strike to finish. The move lets tanker trucks leave, because fuel is running short at service stations and airports across Puglia. Some workers voiced dissent at the assembly, but the unions pressed for unity ahead of the coming deadlines.
Truck drivers have their own grievances. A protest against fuel prices blocked a roundabout on the Andria bypass, and the mayor, Giovanna Bruno, went to meet the demonstrators there. In Calabria, the regional logistics federation Fedralog has called hauliers to mobilise from 16 to 20 October, alongside federations in Puglia, Sicily and Basilicata, with about twenty truck pickets across the region.
Acciaierie d'Italia is reportedly notifying a growing number of employees that they are suspended and placed on zero-hour cassa integrazione, the Italian wage guarantee scheme, according to union sources. The first notices reached the Milan office before spreading to Taranto. The current authorisation covers 4,500 workers across the group, 3,800 of them in Taranto, and the unions see the measure as a possible prelude to a new extraordinary cassa integrazione.
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Blast furnace 2 has been brought to minimum regime, while steel mill 2 remains idle. The Milan Court of Appeal has ordered the halt of the plants, and the company also faces a shortage of raw materials and financial difficulties. About 350,000 tonnes of purchased slabs, part of them already unloaded, should allow hot strip mill 2 to restart in November, but that work will absorb only a limited share of the Taranto workforce. Staff at the Taranto research centre have also been on company-imposed holidays for about a week.
On 15 October, a delegation of workers and unions was received in Bari by Puglia's regional president, Antonio Decaro, and the talks produced a joint platform signed by institutions, political representatives and unions. The platform builds on a document drafted by the plant works council on 7 October and asks for urgent measures to protect jobs, health and production, together with direct state involvement. It acknowledges that the decree in preparation is temporary and calls for further extraordinary support, while describing production that must be sustainable and compatible with health, moving towards decarbonisation and green hydrogen once the technology allows. At the assembly, Biagio Prisciano, territorial secretary of Fim Cisl Taranto-Brindisi, urged workers to fill the buses for the trip to Rome.
“We need to think about filling the buses, because the Rome stop on 27 October will be important.”
Francesco Brigati of Fiom Cgil framed the Palazzo Chigi convocation as a partial gain.
“We obtained the convocation at Chigi with our determination, it is an achievement but not a solution.”
Brigati listed the next steps: a Court of Cassation decision expected on 20 October, the Palazzo Chigi meeting at 17:00 on 27 October, and the deadline of 9 November for filing offers for Acciaierie d'Italia. Other dates are also set, including a prefecture table in Alessandria on 19 October and a Piedmont regional table on 21 October.
A draft decree with urgent measures for ex Ilva and contractor workers, which Fanpage has reviewed, would give contractor staff cassa integrazione for less than a year. Direct staff of Acciaierie d'Italia and Ilva would be covered for 2026 and 2027, but the text recognises no arduous-work status for anyone. Fanpage estimates the group of long-serving workers exposed to asbestos and fine dust at more than 4,000 people, and the unions have rejected the framework as insufficient to guarantee their dignity. The legal dispute runs alongside. Minister for Enterprises Adolfo Urso spoke of openings in the court's position on continued operation of the blast furnaces, though conditions remain unclear. Archbishop of Taranto Ciro Miniero issued a message to the community, warning against playing into the hands of those who have used the city for years.
“We asked for health and were ignored. We asked for work and we are losing it.”
Miniero called for alternative job opportunities and a special law for Taranto, which he said ranks near the bottom of quality-of-life rankings despite its strategic weight.
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Unions lifted the blockades at the Eni refinery and on the SS7 before the strike ends at 23:00, while fuel shortages hit Puglia and the Rome talks loom for 27 October.
AI text based on reports by ANSA.it, Il Fatto Quotidiano, Il Sole 24 ORE and other publishers. Changed .