Ex-Ilva workers to strike as government continues negotiations

The Italian trade unions have announced another strike at ArcelorMittal Italia to protest against the company’s proposal to cut 4,700 jobs at the former steelmaker Ilva, Kallanish learns from union representatives.

The Italian government had rejected the industrial plan submitted by ArcelorMittal last week. This intends to cut half of Ilva’s workforce by 2023 when the company proposes to idle blast furnace No. 2 and launch an electric arc furnace at the Taranto site (see Kallanish passim).

The strike on 10 December will involve all workers from former Ilva facilities and will include a protest in Rome.

Meanwhile the government is working on its own industrial plan that would involve a revamp of blast furnace no. 5 which has been idled for years. According to the plan, the plant in Taranto would work with two blast furnaces and one electric arc furnace to enable annual steel production of 8 million tonnes, Kallanish hears.