(Finance) – The agreement was signed this afternoon at Palazzo Piacentini, the headquarters of Mimit,Program Agreement which starts the transfer of the site’s activities Baths from the Rosandra to MSCan Italian-Swiss company leader in the logistics sector and the first maritime transport company in the world. Present at the signing were the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolf Bear and the undersecretary with responsibility for industrial crises, Fausta Bergamotthe president of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region, Maximilian Fedrigarepresentatives of the Ministry of Labour, of Wärtsilä and of MSC, of the municipality of San Dorligo della Valle, of Confindustria Alto Adriatico, of the national trade unions, of the port authority and representatives of Rete Ferroviaria Italiana.
By signing the document, MSC formally commits – through the newly established company Innovative Triestewhich sees the MSC Group and Innofreight as equal partners – to the reconversion of the establishment and the implementation of the industrial plan in the coming months with an investment of approximately 100 million euros in the plant. The relaunch and reindustrialization of the site includes the start of production of highly technological rail wagons for freight transport, absorbing all 261 redundant workers from Wärtsilä. An operation that will allow further positive effects on employment also in reference to the situation of the related companies. From a production point of view, the objective is to achieve 1,000 cars per year within a maximum of 36 months and employ over 300 people. The Finnish multinational, for its part, will in any case commit to guaranteeing employment levels in the Italian offices where 700 workers operate.
“This concludes in the best possible way a crisis that lasted over two years, through the concerted effort of all the actors: a success for the Italian system – declared Minister Urso -. We have safeguarded jobs and started the reconversion of an industrial site that was destined to close with the intervention of an international player ready to develop a long-lasting project for the territory with high technological content. For this reason, the Wärtsilä dispute will also be an example for other corporate crises that Mimit is bringing to a positive solution. With the participation of all, it was possible to complete the Program Agreement in just 4 months, which will redesign a significant part of the port and hinterland areas of Trieste”.
“The signing of this program agreement averts one of the worst employment crises that the Region has had to face and confirms the strategic importance of the territory in the Italian and European production context, opening the way to new opportunities for development and economic growth”, underlined the president of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Maximilian Fedriga. “Over the last two years the Region has always been at the side of the workers and has deployed all the resources at its disposal, but it is important to underline that what has been achieved today is a result obtained thanks to the close and active collaboration among all the public and private entities that have intervened since the announcement of Wärtsilä Italia’s decision to concentrate production in Finland, ceasing production activity at the Bagnoli della Rosandra site”, added Fedriga.
“We are truly satisfied to have signed today’s agreement which will allow us to now proceed quickly with the reconversion of the plant to create a new innovative and cutting-edge industrial hub in Europe, capable of producing, at full capacity, at least 1,000 railway carriages per year – declared the Group MSC And Innofreightequal partners of the new company Innovative Trieste –. A result that rewards the great teamwork and commitment of all parties involved. An agreement that could never have been reached without the contribution of the social partners, the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy, the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region, Confindustria Alto Adriatico and all the institutional actors involved, whom we thank for their commitment and valuable collaboration”.
The customers were also satisfied labor unions. With the program agreement signed today at Mimit, which follows the union agreements with the companies of Msc and Wartsila Italia, “a crisis that lasted almost 2 years is closed, with the safeguarding of all employment and the confirmation of the industrial vocation of the Trieste site”, they underlined in a note Film, Fiom And Uilm national. “A dispute paradigmatic that of Wartsila Italia; made possible thanks to the struggle of the workers and the union – they added – and to the concrete commitment of the Institutions. A dispute that must be a reference for the Government to give positive answers with industrial policy choices and investments also to other open crises in the country starting from those that affect workers in the automotive, steel and household appliance industries”.