Yesterday was a day of meetings at the Stellantis plant in Termoli, after which from 12.30pm to 1.30pm, from 2pm to 3pm and from 10pm to 11pm, the territorial and regional secretaries of Fim-Cisl, Uilm, UglM and Fismic-Confsal discussed with the workers of news, unfortunately not positive, inherent to the Acc Gigafactory project, after the stop imposed until at least the end of 2024.
We met them at the exit after the afternoon one, in front of the gates of Termoli 1, to tell us what emerged and above all what we intend to do.
For Giovanni Mercogliano, provincial secretary of Fismic-Confsal, «We held these very participatory assemblies, to report what were the outcomes of the meetings we had at Mimit, the last one on 11 June where we recorded the stop to the process which will lead to the construction of the Gigafactory here, on the territory of Termoli, a stop due according to the company to an electric market that is not thriving at the moment and to research into products and technologies that could improve the costs and also the performance of the new batteries that will be used in Stellantis products. There is a lot of uncertainty for the future, but we reiterate that the Gigafactory must be an opportunity for this territory, as the electric transition has been decided at a European level, the Gigafactory is fundamental to safeguard employment ». Marco Laviano, regional secretary of the Fim-Cisl, follows: «The meetings are the first step in a process of raising awareness inside and outside the plant. Our interest was mainly to involve all the workers, to explain what the state of the art was, the decisions of the Stellantis group first and foremost. Now we will try to involve everyone, workers, institutions at municipal, provincial and regional level in a regional board in which all the trade union organisations, where all the actors who will have to somehow have their say and find a common path to give the maximum relevance and attention to the territory of Termoli, to this industrial nucleus, to the Molise region itself”. When asked about this, Laviano did not rule out that a wide-ranging mobilization could also lead to a protest. «At that table we should make the final decisions, we have the idea of a mobilization that could be a demonstration, that could be something bigger, that goes in the sole direction of raising the level of attention on Termoli at a national level and not only, you can’t joke anymore. If the address is that of the electrician, go in that direction. If, however, someone is having second thoughts, at that point Stellantis must guarantee endothermic production on the Molise territory. Because only in this way will we have productive saturation and adequate employment levels.” Francesco Guida (Uilm) highlights that: «What happened last week at Mimit was a cold shower, because we certainly didn’t expect what then happened; it is clear that for our part, after having illustrated what will be our demands in the coming weeks, we will have a meeting with all the local and national trade union organisations, in which it is clear that we will raise the bar, we will try to involve the territory too, because at this moment Termoli needs certainties, the certainties in this phase come from the internal combustion engine, which for us Stellantis must continue to produce in Termoli, while waiting to understand what will become of the Acc project, so we will put pressure on This. We believe that there are various factors behind the slowdown on the Gigafactory, certainly the new European political framework will probably lead to a change with respect to the electric car and above all with respect to its times, then we have another question. To date, this project, which has 400 million euros of public funding, has not seen the State disburse even a cent. Finally, we have an electric car market which has laughable numbers in Italy, the market occupies two percent. So if we add the mix of these three components we have the overall truth.” Finally, Domenico Guida of Ugl metalworkers: «It has been a long time since the meetings have been so well attended. We should react with a lot of strength and a lot of energy. The workers are as worried as we are, but they expect something good, from us and from the Region, from the national secretariats and from the Government. Let’s say that there is still some trust in time.”
Emanuele Bracone
