Former Ilva, government brings unions a decree for workers and suppliers

On September 15, 2026, the government worked on a decree containing extraordinary measures for workers at the former Ilva and its supply chain, including redundancy funds or income support measures. The proposals are expected at the meeting with unions called for September 16 at Palazzo Chigi, ahead of the afternoon Council of Ministers on the same day.

The September 16 meeting is, according to the ANSA news agency, the twentieth since October 23, 2023: a figure that signals the length of the discussion between the government, commissioners and social partners on a dossier that has remained open for nearly three years. During this period, the Taranto plant and the entire former Ilva perimeter have gone through multiple phases of special administration, without the employment issue finding a definitive solution.

On the judicial front, the Milan Court of Appeal confirmed the shutdown of the plant’s hot area in Taranto from the end of October, according to what was reported by la Repubblica: a decision that weighs on today’s meeting, since it directly affects the timeframe within which the measures envisaged by the decree should take effect. The shutdown of the hot area affects production and, consequently, the number of workers the decree will actually need to cover in the immediately following months.

The unions, for their part, are demanding the withdrawal of the announced layoffs and the introduction of extraordinary measures to protect the income of the workers involved, both those directly employed at the plant and those in the supply chain. The mobilization of supply chain workers, with pickets and marches in the days before the meeting, accompanied the negotiations according to what was reported by Corriere della Sera - Bari edition.

The decree, if passed at the Council of Ministers on the evening of September 16, will define in detail the measures discussed at the morning meeting: until the text is published, the exact scope of the planned measures — duration of the redundancy fund, pool of beneficiaries, allocated resources — cannot be determined on the basis of the available sources.