Cement is in crisis, dismissals at Holcim

“We don’t understand why the solution was only the dismissal without trying to find another. The year couldn’t start better.” Flavio Nossa of Fillea-Cgil is very disconcerted: the concrete plant Holcim, a Swiss company that has other productive factories in the North of Italy, among them also two in the province of Varese, has announced 155 dismissals in the cement sector and other 25 in the concrete sector.

In the plant of Ternate 23 workers will be dismissed, out of a total of 100 workers. “It will become a hub for the cement in the North-West, as the plant of Morano will be closed and Merone will become a centre for milling. During the interviews with the company, they told us that this restructuring is due to an economic imbalance of 60 million of euros, so the target will be only the big building constructions.” said Nossa.

As concern the Calcestruzzi company, the plants of concrete-mixing of Cairate (Va), Lurate (Co), Cergnagno (Pv) will be closed and the plants of Valenza Po (Al) and of Spinetta Marengo (Al) are being evaluated of closing for a total of 25 dismissals.

The Holcim company, first international player in the sector of cement and aggregates, has 540 employees and  a turnover of about 200 million of euro and has plants in the province of Como,Varese, Bergamo and Alessandria. The headquarters of the company is situated in Merone (Como).

The coordination of RSU and the local and regional offices of Feneal Uil, Filca-Cisl, Fillea-Cgil have announced a day of strike of 8 hours per turn, places and demonstrations. The workers of Ternate and Morano are in a standing committee, while in the plant of Merone, where 94 dismissals are predicted, the workers are from today, Monday 14 January, in demonstration in front of the gates of the plant.

The trade unions have chosen the date of Wednesday 16 January for the strike, it is the same day when Holcim will receive in Milan the award “company with social responsibility” of Unioncamere Lombardia.