Hours of passion, fears and uncertainties for the workers of Portovesme srl, the metallurgical company controlled by Glencore.
Today new meeting in the factory, tomorrow yet another meeting at the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy .
At the center of the two meetings the need to find solutions to the energy cost, the company asks for a structural measure that guarantees a certain cost of energy for at least two years to reactivate the production of the lead line and suspend the social safety nets affecting the 1,200 employees direct .
But that's not enough, energy isn't the only point to settle, nor is it the main one, the multinational was clear at its last meeting in Rome: " No to the resumption of production, but we won't abandon the site ", said the representatives of Glencore at the table.
The company has expressed the need to implement a conversion project that goes towards the circular economy. The plant should get to produce batteries of the latest generation , Glencore has proposed to set up a small working group with the ministry and intends to present the project by June.
«We – explained the undersecretary Bergamotto – are ready to help them, but guarantees are needed for the present and the future of all the workers which at the moment have not been highlighted to us ».
«Today the monthly average of the single national energy price is 140 euros per MW, compared to 50 euros/MW before the crisis - explains Pierluigi Loi of Uiltec -. We ask for reasoning on super-interruptibility, even if at risk of infringement, given the expansion of state aid by the EU: let's check if there are margins, because the tax credit for three months, moreover passed from 45 at 20%, it is not enough to restart systems which need about 45 days to restart ».
According to Emanuele Madeddu of Filctem-Cgil , «it is important that the trade unions are involved in the discussion table on the reconversion project but the Government also needs to find a solution on high energy costs to arrive at the announced revamping project with the plants running . We ask the company for an act of opening to restart even partially the activities that are currently stopped in Portovesme and San Gavino ».
(Unioneonline/L)
