Great expectations this morning for the workers of the former site Pensila, still formally formally employees of the company, despite the revocation of the contract by the Municipality. As expected in yesterday’s meeting between the municipal administration, the unions and the workers themselves, today an important confrontation will take place with the new company entrusted with the waste collection service to try to find a shared solution on the recovery of the workforce.
The central node remains the position of the Preseila spa, which – strong of the precautionary measures obtained by the bankruptcy court and of the appeal against the municipal ordinance of July – continues to claim the ownership of the service, refusing to formally free the workers. In fact, this position is blocking the application of the social clause provided for the change of contract, and with it, the continuity of employment.
Meanwhile, the operational framework is clear: Preseila is no longer the company in charge of the service in the municipality of Rogliano, officially revoked for the numerous penalties imposed in recent months due to a business management deemed inefficient.
Without salary since June
The workers, who spent the night in the council chamber of the Municipality await a concrete signal in trepidation: they are without salary since June, they have not received the 14th month, nor any guarantee on the salary of August. In the meeting held in recent days in the presence of the CEO of Preseila, these entitled people have been claimed again, but without success.
Yesterday’s meeting, which also saw the participation of the lawyer in charge of the Municipality, highlighted all the complexity of a story that is generating a wall against the judicial wall, whose consequences weigh only on workers. The Municipality, which was asked to apply the replacement power, declared the impossibility of doing it, since the contract is formally ceased and the company no longer boasts any credit but has shown great willingness to identify a way to get out of this embarrassing situation.
It is hoped that common sense prevails, restoring dignity and stability to workers, many of which are fathers of the family who have lived the worst summer of their lives, without income or certainties. In the absence of concrete answers from today’s meeting, the workers announced the continuation of the sit-in to the bitter end in front of the Municipality.
The state of agitation has already been proclaimed by the union, which also urged the intervention of the Prefect of Cosenza with a formal note of 11 August, so far remained without follow -up. “We do not know when and how this dispute will end – the trade union representatives say – but one thing is certain: the workers cannot pay for the price”.
The picture of the story
Preesila Spa is a mixed participation company: 49% in the hands of a private individual, which expresses the CEO, and 51% divided between the municipalities of the Savuto Valley, including Rogliano.
In the last twelve months, the company has lost all the contracts, including the most historical ones, and according to a determination of the Municipality, it will formally remain alive until 2026, pending the definition of the current judicial proceedings.
In the meantime, the conditions of the Rogliano construction site have drastically worsened: payments are missing, the equipment is lacking, and the staff is even without – since the beginning of 2024 – of compulsory health surveillance.
After repeated reports and protests, the Municipality intervened in July with an urgent order provisionally entrusting the service to a new company, waiting to verify the amount of the penalties disputed in Preseila.
From that moment a ordeal began for the workers: formally still employees of Pesila, but without any activity, they were put on office holidays. The contract was subsequently revoked definitively, but Pensila started appeal by contesting the legitimacy of the act due to the arrangement with creditors in continuity, with hearing set to September 12th.
In the meantime, the new company has repeatedly asked – without success – the documentation necessary for the takeover. Even the mediation attempt on August 21 in the presence of the mayor, the councilor and the top management did not produce results.
In fact, he prejudice the unavailability of proceeding to the layoffs and the payment of the backward salaries, charged the responsibilities to the non -payment by the Municipalities. For its part, the Municipality claims to be no longer required to pay anything after the cessation of the contract, and that, for the month of June, the penalties make the company even debtor.
Appeal of the parties
A clear signal is now needed. The institutional silence – primarily of the Prefecture – risks transforming an administrative dispute into a real social emergency.
“We just ask to go back to work, with dignity and security,” says the workers, while preparing for new days of garrison and mobilization. Time is now over