Mr President, for those who were lucky enough, like me and other Members, to take part in the strike and the demonstration at Terni on Friday 6 February, the deeper meaning of this struggle was very clear: an entire city and an entire region were united and determined to reject not merely a harsh blow against their production plant and their jobs but, above all, an attack on their dignity. With many years trade union experience behind me, seldom have I witnessed such tension and such pride. The announcement to close the magnetic section of ST by Thyssen Krupp means the loss of 900 highly qualified jobs and internal disruption as a result in the Terni iron and steel plant thereby posing an immediate threat to its plans, its productive capacity and its overall job prospects: we are talking of 4 500 jobs, including those companies affected by the knock-on effects. Over and above that, though, this is, I repeat, a slap in the face for regional local government which has worked effectively and is still working, by utilising the structural funds, to create a more favourable climate of production for the company and its investments: infrastructure projects, training and professional retraining, energetic supply measures. Up until yesterday everything was fine; then, in September 2003, production for electric motors, that is to say non-grain-oriented steel, was abandoned. At that time, and again in November, a solemn commitment was given concerning all the programmes aimed at making Terni a centre of excellence for magnetic steel. At the end of January, however, after only two months, there was an about turn: even the production of grain-oriented steel used for transformers was closed down and the closure of the plant was announced with dramatic internal consequences: there was a threat that the plant would be broken up destroying its integrated structure which, given the varied nature of its production, enabled it to balance out market fluctuations and disperse strategic functions such as marketing. It also had major external consequences affecting Italy and Europe in general. Magnetic steel, which is produced only in Terni, is the only special strategic steel for the energy sector; becoming dependent on Russia and the US will also have a negative knock-on effect for users who are major exporters. The news that arrived at the end of the meeting held today in Palazzo Chigi therefore explains why the workers and the inhabitants of the city took to the streets and why they have been able to broaden their network of alliances and support. On 18 February genuine negotiations will finally get under way without a gun being held to the trade union’s head. The deadline of 27 February has been cancelled, 80 contracts which had expired and which Thyssen Krupp wanted to cancel are being renewed; it is a sign that the multinational feels isolated. In response to this preliminary result the pressure must be maintained and the attention of all the institutions must be kept engaged. On Thursday this Parliament will make its voice heard with a resolution on this issue which genuinely symbolises the need for new systems of industrial relations and more advanced methods for linking public investment and industrial strategy. We are fighting to ensure that there is a clear message that the dispute should end in a positive manner: a decisive dispute to put a stop to the downgrading of production in Italy and the weakening of industrial plant throughout Europe.

Political group: PSE