Italy approves ex Ilva decree as Taranto workers keep blockades and unions call 48-hour strike

A decree with three pillars

The Council of Ministers approved a decree-law for the ex Ilva steelworks on 13 October 2026. According to Rai, it rests on three pillars: protecting workers, keeping the plants running in preheating mode, and attracting new investment. Speaking after the cabinet meeting, labour minister Marina Calderone said:

An important protection is foreseen.

Rai puts the decree's total scope at 187 million euros. Il Sole 24 Ore reports that the labour ministry's measures now carry a combined cost of about 138 million euros.

Keeping the hot area running

The decree keeps the coke batteries 7, 8, 9 and 12 and the cowpers of blast furnaces 1, 2 and 4 in preheating mode, without production. According to Il Sole 24 Ore, this lasts until the reasons for the Court of Cassation ruling are published, with 15 December mentioned as the outer limit. The Cassation court is due to rule on 20 October on appeals against a Milan Court of Appeal decision. ANSA reports that the Milan ruling would stop the hot area by 25 October unless the high court decides otherwise. The decree also releases the last tranche of a 40.5 million euro loan to Acciaierie d'Italia in extraordinary administration, following a February decision by the European Commission.

Workers, pay support and hiring incentives

For direct workers at Acciaierie d'Italia, the decree refinances the cassa integrazione top-up for the period from 1 October 2026 to 30 June 2027. A technical report cited by Il Sole 24 Ore says the scheme could reach 9,200 workers at zero hours over the whole period. Supply-chain firms get cassa integrazione in deroga for 4,200 workers over the same period, provided they earned more than 50% of their turnover from Acciaierie d'Italia in the two years before 1 September 2026.

Employers that hire ex Acciaierie d'Italia or Ilva in extraordinary administration workers on permanent contracts from 1 November 2026 to 31 December 2027 receive a full contribution exemption. It is capped at 8,000 euros a year per worker and requires a four-year retention of the hire. Workers who refuse a training course or a new job offer lose the top-up, according to the same report.

Protests in Taranto and Genoa

Workers kept their sit-ins going through the night, lighting fires to keep warm in the cold and humidity. Blockades on state roads 7 and 106 have halted freight traffic and blocked the entrance to the Eni refinery in Taranto, where ANSA counted 37 tanker trucks still stuck inside on the evening of 12 October. In Genoa, workers held a march on 12 October and set up tents, tables and chairs outside the prefecture. Fim, Fiom, Uilm and Usb extended the protest, and Fim, Fiom and Uilm nationally proclaimed another 48 hours of strike at all ex Ilva sites, calling the government's answers insufficient.

Biagio Prisciano, general secretary of Fim Cisl Taranto Brindisi, said:

We demand that the government convene us.

Prisciano said the unions want talks at Palazzo Chigi on industrial, environmental, social and employment prospects, along with early retirement and voluntary exit incentives. The unions will meet the Puglia regional government on Thursday, 15 October, and Prisciano said 10 buses had already been arranged to bring workers.

What comes next

The Puglia regional meeting falls on Thursday, 15 October, and the Court of Cassation is due to rule on 20 October. The Milan order would stop the hot area by 25 October unless the high court decides otherwise. The Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (Mimit) will coordinate expressions of interest for investments above 10 million euros on about 100 hectares of ex Ilva and adjacent state-owned land, according to Open. The decree also sets up a Brindisi-Taranto industrial district focused on zero-emission technologies and allocates 1 million euros a year to the Taranto technopole.