Isap Packaging crisis, workers are in permanent assembly

It is standoff on the outskirts of Aci Sant'Antonio. The 45 employees of the “Isap Packaging” plant have been in permanent assembly since yesterday, an extreme decision made in agreement with the secretariats of Femca Cisl and Uiltec Uil after the unsuccessful outcome of the morning meeting with the company management.

The tension is very high. The unions are denouncing a total closure from the ownership regarding any solution that does not involve drastic staff cuts. “We felt humiliated - explain the representatives of Femca and Uiltec - in the face of the denial of any alternative to layoffs. We presented several options: from extraordinary redundancy fund to solidarity contracts, including the use of funds allocated for Zes or those for training. Isap's response was contemptuous: an offer of just 5 thousand euros per worker as an exit incentive.”

An amount defined as “miserable” by the unions, which does not resolve the plight of 45 mothers and fathers whose working future hangs by a thread. A crisis that has roots dating back to previous months: the 45 current at-risk employees are in addition to the 23 temporary workers whose contracts were not renewed last December. The mobilization promises to continue indefinitely until negotiations are reopened to ensure job continuity and the dignity of work at the Sant'Antonio industrial site.