A delegation representing various Italian metalworkers' unions will meet with top managers from ThyssenKrupp (TK) on 17 November to continue discussing the future of Italy’s stricken AST Terni plant, according to union statements seen by Kallanish.

‘During the meeting it will be important to clarify one aspect: [TK’s] medium and long term interest for the company's plant in Terni’, says Marco Bentivogli, referring to TK’s investment intentions for AST. Bentivogli is the national secretary of Italian union, Fim Cisl.

In the meantime, Bentivogli attended a summit in Rome, held by Italy’s Ministry of Economic Development on 10 November. The meeting included the unions, government representatives and AST managers, but its outcome was unknown as Kallanish went to press.

Local news reports suggest any settlement with TK over its industrial plan for AST is a long way off: union sources have said that the workers’ agreement, if indeed it is given, will be reluctant, because they are unlikely to get many of their demands met. Rome’s government, which has in recent weeks been offering mediation, appears to be backing solutions that are more in tune with the management's needs, claims one.

Others note that the 10 November talks were at a stalemate by mid-evening, when it was not possible to contact sources for clarification.

Italian minister of economic development Federica Guidi is reportedly tending towards a TK amended proposal that would limit job cuts to a maximum of 290 over the next two years, and not 550, as initially stated. There is also mixed reports that AST may retain both electric arc furnaces, although TK might only guarantee the running of the second furnace for two years, and shifts might be limited.
 
Last week, AST ceo, Lucia Morselli said in a statement she accepted the Italian government’s recommendations to pay interim salaries to the mill’s workers, who have staged significant strikes and protests through October and into November.

The plight of AST has also gone to the highest EU level. On 4 November, a small workers’ delegation met with the new European Competition Commissioner, Denmark’s Margrethe Vestager, accompanied by the president of the Umbria region, Catiuscia Marini, and Italy’s European parliament members, David Sassoli and Antonio Tajani.