A-Infos (en) Italy, FAI, Umanita Nova #27-26 - We want bread and roses. ILVA Taranto: forced to choose between health and jobs. (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

In issue 23/2025 of *UN*, we described Taranto as a "city-state" where 
environmental disasters, military occupation, and healthcare-related 
dealings-in a word, "power"-achieved its greatest ambition: dividing a 
people, starving them, and sowing death and disease in the name of 
profit. Today, they seek to continue dividing us, using both the 
repression of struggles and a narrative that pits jobs against health. 
---- With the Milan Court of Appeal's ruling mandating the closure of 
the ILVA Taranto plant's "hot area" by October 28th-on the grounds that 
it harms citizens' health (assuming this actually happens, given the 
numerous "save-ILVA" decrees)-the intent to divide the city through the 
"jobs vs. health" and "employment vs. environment" ultimatum becomes clear.

Against this backdrop, another major venture unfolded: the 
"Mediterranean Games." The goal was to lull the population into a 
stupor, captivating them with the sudden focus on their city. Three 
elements underpinned this operation: money portrayed as an opportunity 
for improvement; the festivities served up as a collective narcotic; and 
the hope for a hypothetical rebirth.

The Games-set against a backdrop deliberately crafted to create an 
atmosphere of engaging celebration-cost between 380 and 400 million 
euros. The floating athletes' village alone accounted for 22 to 30 
million euros, spent on chartering cruise ships to house the athletes; 
for security reasons, these were moored at the Italian Navy's *Mar 
Grande* Naval Station. Meanwhile, the city received a facelift in its 
most prestigious areas. An excessive military presence-spanning land, 
sea, and air forces-presented as a source of reassurance and security. 
Politicians put themselves on display, seemingly claiming credit even 
for the beauty of this land, yet ready-one might say-to servilely sell 
it all off to the highest bidder.

What was billed as a "staged redemption" has, in reality, merely masked 
the disasters plaguing this area: a healthcare system in 
shambles-non-existent for those unable to pay for it-run-down 
neighborhoods, a lack of services, and an impoverished population 
ravaged by rising disease and workplace accidents, all while remaining 
divided over the path forward.

Just hours after the Mediterranean Games concluded, and amidst a climate 
of social fragmentation, thousands of layoffs have arrived right on 
cue-initially affecting workers in the ILVA supply chain, who are among 
the least protected and most vulnerable; thousands more are expected 
should the "hot area" (the primary steel production unit) shut down. 
Shortly after the collective infatuation with the Games has faded, the 
militarization of the territory is intensifying: Admiral Cavo Dragone 
has announced the establishment of NATO's new Multinational Maritime 
Command for the South in Taranto-under Italian leadership-underscoring 
the city's strategic importance.

Policies of rearmament and territorial militarization, backed by massive 
investment, signal that governments prioritize the interests of military 
lobbies, the arms industry, and private profit, while the creation of 
wealth for local citizens is clearly of no consequence.

This situation compels us to engage in collective reflection-a 
reflection that looks beyond the interests of trade unions (unions that 
have been absent from anti-militarist and environmentalist struggles, 
concerned only with the economic fallout should their membership numbers 
plummet); ...one that disregards the personal interests and inflated 
egos of doctors, chemists, artists, lawyers, professors, fixers, and the 
new breed of politicians-figures who are conspicuously absent from 
internationalist and anti-militarist struggles, indifferent to local 
issues, and detached from class conflicts. Today, however, we must forge 
a collective path to reunite the working class, enabling us to 
self-organize and place labor, health, employment, the environment, 
anti-militarism, and opposition to war at the heart of our struggles.

Not a single worker should be left jobless; not one child or citizen 
should ever again fall ill because of ILVA. We are working toward a 
social strike that brings the city to a standstill and halts factory 
production, leading to worker self-management. We want it all: bread and 
roses too.

Cosimo Cassetta

https://umanitanova.org/noi-vogliamo-il-pane-e-le-rose-ilva-taranto-obbligati-a-scegliere-tra-salute-e-lavoro/
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