Strike At ArcelorMittal's Italy Steel Plant Over Job Cuts

Workers at the Ilva steel plant in southern Italy held a 24-hour strike Tuesday in protest over reported plans by giant ArcelorMittal to cut 5,000 jobs at the struggling mill

Rome, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th Jun, 2020 ) :Workers at the Ilva steel plant in southern Italy held a 24-hour strike Tuesday in protest over reported plans by giant ArcelorMittal to cut 5,000 jobs at the struggling mill.

ArcelorMittal -- the world's biggest steelmaker -- pulled out of an agreement to buy struggling Italian firm Ilva in November after Italian lawmakers revoked a period of legal immunity to bring the heavily-polluted site up to environmental standards.

It later went on to sign a rescue agreement with the government under which it pledged not to pull out of the plant in Taranto, which employs some 8,200 people, in exchange for a significant injection of state funding.

Tuesday's strike was organised by Italy's three main trade unions after reports emerged Friday that ArcelorMittal had submitted a new plan to the government for some 5,000 job cuts at the loss-making plant.

"ArcelorMittal's plan is unacceptable. The company must assume its responsibilities," said Economics Minister Roberto Gualtieri during a video conference with trade union representatives, according to AGI news agency.

"The postponement of strategic investments both in terms of strengthening production... and in terms of the introduction of electric furnaces" under a plan to decarbonise the site, "departs significantly from what had been agreed", Gualtieri added.

The Taranto plant is one of the few large industrial employers in the country's poorer south, but has long been mired in controversy over its environmental impact.

Experts believe that some 7,500 people have died in the surrounding area as a result of diseases linked to toxic emissions.

The government is expected to hold talks with ArcelorMittal management next week.