The work stoppage at Fincantieri’s Monfalcone yard was lingering through its third day as the company, workers and unions were eager to get back to work.
On Tuesday, Fincantieri announced that, pursuant to an order issued by the Criminal Court of Gorizia, the Carabinieri Unit for the Protection of the Environment (Comando Carabinieri per la Tutela dell’Ambiente) – the Udine Environmental Operations Task Force (Nucleo Operativo Ecologico) provided for the preventive seizure of some areas of the Monfalcone yard dedicated to processing waste materials, said to be an important area for the proper running of the production process.
The order was the result of an investigation initiated in May 2013 and already rejected by the Preliminary Investigating Judge (GIP) at the Court of Gorizia, and by the latter Court on appeal. However, following acceptance of a subsequent appeal to the Supreme Court filed by the Public Prosecutor at the Court of Gorizia, the court became involved in the matter again and this time ordered the closing of the facility.
Notwithstanding the intention to take all appropriate actions in court in order to obtain the reversal of the order, considered especially burdensome because of the damage that its continuing effects may cause, Fincantieri said it was forced, in accordance with the aforementioned decision of the Court, to suspend as of Tuesday the working activities for all the workers involved in the production cycle at Monfalcone.
A meeting on Monday, before the closing (organized by the Ministry of Economic Development with Fincantieri CEO Giuseppe Bono and the other relevant parties), was said to have identified some alternatives to overcome the situation. But at press time, the situation had not yet been resolved.
