Ilva, Di Maio reassures unions: "No agreement unless shared"

The Minister of Economic Development and Labor, Luigi Di Maio, met with the unions today at the ministry to restart negotiations on the Ilva steel group dispute. Di Maio listened to all parties, assuring that there will be no agreement "unless shared" with everyone and promising a new meeting in a few days, not weeks.

The unions reiterated their position, calling for negotiations to be quickly reconvened and explaining that an agreement has not been reached so far due to substantive issues related to job security. They insisted that all workers must be hired by Mittal within the plan's timeframe and that the Genoa program agreement must be respected.

The minister requested information on the situation, emphasizing that "environment and technology cannot be in conflict." Criticism came from Liguria, where there are complaints about the absence of local institutions from Genoa and Liguria in the meetings.

The Ilva dispute stems from the crisis of Europe's largest steel plant, located mainly in Taranto, and its placement under extraordinary administration. The origin of the current situation dates back to the European tender won by the company Am Investco Italy, controlled by the Franco-Indian multinational ArcelorMittal, for the lease of Ilva's assets.

The contract includes a suspensive clause: unions and ArcelorMittal have until June 30 to reach an agreement on hiring workers and complying with program agreements. If no agreement is reached, the multinational could still take possession of the plants, but there is a possibility of extending the deadline by up to ninety days.

The situation is complicated by the dwindling cash liquidity of the extraordinary administration, making it difficult to continue managing the plants for another three months without refinancing—a delicate operation due to European state aid rules. Negotiations are therefore underway to find a last-minute agreement that satisfies all parties.