The Unions Filt-Cgil, Fit-Cisl, and Uiltrasporti have announced a three-day strike of the staff working on the Vado Gateway platform from 15 to January 18. It is the first strike since the opening of this terminal.

The protest began after the stalemate in negotiations with the company regarding the requests of the social partners, who aim to obtain an additional 10 euros per day on the flexibility chapter, to adapt wages to the cost of living, and a new agreement on training.

But even in the nearby Reefer Terminal, there is an air of tension due to excessive overtime shifts. The strike of the Vado Gateway platform staff was called two weeks after the proclamation of the state of unrest, which was followed by cooling-off procedures. But the table did not produce the desired results, and the confederal secretaries Simone Turcotto (Filt-Cgil), Danilo Causa (Fit-Cisl), and Franco Paparusso (UIltrasporti) chose the path of the strike.

Initially, only a 48-hour strike was announced. It reached three full days, from 7 am on Friday, January 15 to 7 am on Monday, 18th: "The company did not reply to the requests for salary adjustments necessary to counteract the increase in the cost of living and the impoverishment of purchasing power - the unions underlined -. Furthermore, the request to establish a framework agreement on access to training for the use of operational means and for trainers who currently have a temporary role regulated by individual agreements was rejected". In fact, the union's request was to add 10 euros per day to the flexibility chapter, which would have affected a total of six days per month. "As far as training is concerned - explains Turcotto -, the proposed agreement would actually be at zero cost for the company". "On the issues of adjustment of the contractual level and on the mixing of operational personnel in the Reefer Terminal, there have been no adequate responses, furthermore the unavailability of establishing technical discussions on the dispatcher, planner, and maintenance profiles was not satisfactory", added the representatives of the workers. Even on the Reefer Terminal side, an operator that is part of the same APM Terminals as Vado Gateway but is not involved in the strike, the situation is tense.

According to the unions, the issue of the use of operators between the two docks needs to be resolved: the fear is that the aim is to share the staff as if they were a single entity.

The disputes also concern the excessive use of overtime: "A serious situation - explain the unions -, which in the summer affects a period of 20 to 24 days. In practice we proceed with doubling the shift, a solution not foreseen by the national contract, which instead only indicates the possibility of extending the staff's activity by two hours". For its part, the group that manages both Vado Gateway and Reefer Terminal, contacted by a local newspaper, took a few days to examine the situation. On the other hand, the new CEO, Santi Casciano, only formally took office last December 15.