Former Gkn, garrison to avoid the demobilization of the plant

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There were 300 people including workers, politicians and local administrators on Monday 7 November in garrison in front of the gates of the former Gkn of Campi Bisenzio (Florence), the automotive factory closed by the property (the English Melrose fund) in July 2021 and acquired for 1 euro last December from the entrepreneur Francesco Borgomeo (through the Qf company) with the promise to bring it back to life with new productions, summarizing all the workers (now 330 left).

The garrison would have liked to prevent the entry of the trucks announced by Borgomeo to take away waste and warehouse remains from the plant, in which a permanent assembly of workers has been in progress for 15 months. But no trucks showed up. “There were no minimum security guarantees to carry out the planned activities,” said a note from Qf. “Doctor Borgomeo is carrying out a large mass distraction operation – replied a press release from the national and Florentine Fiom-CGIL – in order not to admit to the workers, the territory, the Government and the institutions the non-compliance with the agreement he himself signed on January 19th at the Ministry of Economic Development ”.

The wall against the wall, which has been going on for months now, is being fought over the viability of the plant and the lack of the industrial plan. The workers are not willing to leave the factory because they fear that the machinery will be taken away, and that the announced reindustrialization will become a chimera, and they invoke the industrial plan promised by the entrepreneur. Borgomeo repeats that without the availability of the plant it is not possible to carry out the reindustrialisation, and therefore to start the project called E-Drive: «The plant is illegally occupied and managed illegally; in the next few days we will make our evaluations », is the announcement of the entrepreneur which is the prelude to a total confrontation.

In this scenario of conflict, the Tuscany Region, which had attempted mediation between the parties, has now asked for material disposal activities to return “to the center of a confrontation between the company and workers’ representatives”, making Borgomeo himself annoy (” the indifference of those who would have the levers to act is evident, ”said the entrepreneur). The umpteenth ministerial crisis table, which a few days ago ended with a stalemate, has not even been reconvened. The ex-Gkn is in the swamp of crossed accusations, and at this point it is not clear who will be able to get it out.