No to war economics to revive the crisis-ridden Sulcis region. The CGIL (Italian General Confederation of Labour) clearly opposes the policies the government appears to be pursuing to address the chronic collapse of the region's productive capacity.
"The future of the Sulcis industry cannot be entrusted to RWM's military production. We say this because this appears to be the scenario proposed by Minister Urso following the various discussions at government level between September and October regarding the situation of Eurallumina, Sider Alloys, Portovesme Srl, and related Sulcis industries," said Fausto Durante, Secretary of the CGIL Sardinia.
War economy
For those companies in crisis, "the government is currently not making any concrete industrial proposals, but is merely suggesting a dangerous shortcut: entrusting the economic prospects of Sulcis to a war economy and increased war production. This is a choice we consider wrong and unacceptable, and one we will fight against. This is even more true given the news regarding plans to produce so-called kamikaze drones in Domusnovas with the collaboration of Israeli companies, a completely unacceptable idea."
Industries in crisis
According to a union statement, Eurallumina is facing an ongoing issue regarding the asset freeze of Rusal, the company that owns the site and is subject to sanctions related to Russia's war against Ukraine. Other European countries no longer apply these sanctions to the same company, but they remain in place in Italy. Sider Alloys took over from Alcoa over seven years ago, but in all that time has never restarted the plants , causing a slow decline in the condition of the plant's machinery and facilities, as well as a situation of ongoing precariousness and uncertainty regarding the workforce's prospects. As for Portovesme Srl, following the company's decision to abandon lead and zinc production, "Minister Urso—despite the resounding announcements made at the workers' meeting regarding the strategic nature of those productions and the certainty that the government would guarantee lead and zinc production in Portovesme in the future, with or without Glencore—raised the white flag and concluded that there are no new potential investors and that Sardinia must abandon those productions because electricity is too expensive and the government would have no means of intervening."
All in Rwm
In reality, Durante states, "the government could and should intervene, if it wanted to. Instead, faced with this disaster, Minister Urso has proposed a different solution: the redundant workers from the Sulcis companies should go to work for RWM, which would like to expand its current operations in the production of explosive devices and materials for the military industry."
The CGIL's no
This is a scenario the CGIL (Italian General Confederation of Labour) does not intend to accept, for at least two reasons. The first is that "it would be foolish to abandon the traditional non-ferrous metal production of the Sulcis industrial hub. Most studies and research on the industry's transition to sustainability suggest that the top five materials for achieving this transition are copper, lead, zinc, aluminum, and lithium. And these can be processed in Sardinia, " provided the government "encourages Enel to supply the island with electricity at competitive prices appropriate to its insularity."
The second reason is linked to the specific nature of RWM's activities, which produces bombs in Sardinia: "Those who work for it," Durante emphasizes, "are entitled to the respect and consideration that those who honestly and conscientiously perform their duties as employees deserve. None of those workers voluntarily chose to produce bombs to cause the death of others. Each of those workers working for a company that produces war materials has the right to union representation."
Reconversion objective
However, Fausto Durante concludes, "We would like to send a message to the company's management and the Sardinia Region: according to the CGIL, in a region that alone accounts for two-thirds of the country's military servitude and rightly claims to be a land of peace and ethical and inclusive economic development, RWM should declare its willingness to diversify its activities by also offering new products with civilian applications and uses, beneficial to society as a whole. Furthermore, the company should undertake the stabilization of its workforce, definitively leaving behind the era of work outsourced to temporary employment agencies."
(Unioneonline)