Fincantieri could invest in Messina, the announcement from the president of the Port Authority.

«The shipbuilding industry represents the genius loci of this city. The focal point is to attract top international interlocutors to Messina. For this reason, we have initiated a discussion with Fincantieri that is still in its infancy, but we hope to carry it forward with the utmost attention».

This is how the president of the Port System Authority of the Strait, Francesco Rizzo, began his remarks yesterday at the Cannizzaro Hall of the University during the debate on the theme “Shipbuilding and the Blue Economy. The possible industrial development for the city of Messina”, promoted by the secretary of Fiom Cgil Messina, Daniele David, and moderated by the journalist from La Sicilia, Manuela Modica.

The president of the Authority reiterated that there are currently conditions to attract large investors, recalling the case of the giant Maersk ready to land at the Giammoro logistics platform and the significant investment by Msc in the cruise terminal. However, everyone must do their part, from the union, to the Port System Authority, to institutions, and up to entrepreneurs.

At this moment, the situation is far from rosy. Today, the shipbuilding industry counts 4 shipyards - Palumbo, Cantieri dello Stretto, Intermarine, Liberty Lines - which, directly and indirectly, provide jobs for 1,300 people.

«The main companies in the Messina naval engineering sector - explains David - employ a total of less than 400 direct employees: the shipyard Intermarine Spa has 70 direct workers and about 40 indirect workers, the Cantieri navali dello Stretto have 42 direct employees and about 120 indirect workers, the shipyard Palumbo counts 30 direct workers and about 100 units as indirect. To give an idea of the situation, just 15 years ago, the ratio of direct workers employed by shipyards to contracted workers was one for every five. Today, there is one direct worker, on average, for every eight contracted workers, and in some cases one in ten».

"Unfortunately, aside from the rhetoric, if our discussion wants to go beyond the testimony - adds David - it must address the problem that the most important shipowners in the city are moving their orders to places where the average salary of an architect is €476 per month, or to Malta (as in the case of Palumbo Spa) where the average gross salary of a worker does not exceed €14,000 per year".

Under the scrutiny of the union, in particular the Palumbo shipyards. "The Palumbo shipyard in Messina - explains David - is not involved in any real maintenance project and there is no trace of the commitments made during the concession (which should expire, barring any extensions, in 2027). Neither of the 220 hires (of which 166 are permanent) nor the €15 million to be invested for the modernization of a shipyard that is now decaying. Revitalizing shipbuilding in the Messina area - concludes the secretary - means intervening with adequate investments and pressing the national government to ensure that adequate resources are put in place for the modernization of the docks, warehouses, and equipment".

At the meeting organized by Fiom Cgil, the regional councilor for Productive Activities, Edy Tamajo, was also invited, but he did not attend the meeting. An absence noted as "an emblem of the distance of the Sicilian Region from the needs coming from the world of work".

"Tamajo's absence is a serious matter" - denounce the general secretary Fiom Cgil Sicilia Francesco Foti, the secretary Fiom Messina Daniele David, and the coordinator of shipbuilding Serafino Biondo - It is singular that at all the sausage and bread festivals the councilor for Productive Activities is present and today he skips an important initiative concerning the industry and a historic city like Messina.