Conateco cancels layoffs

Naples - Conateco: there’s a new chapter in the rambling story. The dismissal of 101 workers, who were in danger of being out of work without redundancy payments, was suspended for one year. This reprieve was granted to all 354 workers employed at Conateco. This is the result of an agreement reached at the Ormel (Regional Observatory of the Labour Market) for the Campania Region between the terminal management and the trade unions.

Strikes which had been announced for tomorrow and Friday at the terminal have also been revoked. But troubles at the terminal, half of which is owned by Cosco and the other half by MSC, are certainly not over. There remains the issue of the suspension of an accord in pay conditions, resulting in an average cut of €250 in the pay cheque of all employees, from July. On this matter, the unions have demanded the company reconsider.

Other important issues remain on the table, as well. Firstly, a deadline looms for tomorrow on Conateco: the registration of the rental contract for two container cranes, worth about half a million Euros. If by tomorrow, Thursday, the Port Authority does not receive payment of the amount due, it will convene a special meeting of the Port Committee to discuss, once more, termination of the concession for the terminal. Furthermore, Conateco will have to fulfil its obligations towards unpaid social security contributions and to the Port Authority, the deadline for which was set for 30 September. The next steps Conateco is obliged to take, are: the provision of a deposit for the cranes, which are the property of the Port Authority; the submission of a guarantee to secure the instalment plan; and finally, of course, the timely payment of instalments already set by the recovery plan. To be continued.