The The Italian Sea Group dispute is approaching another institutional milestone, while local media continue to reveal new details almost every day. As previously reported by PressMare, on 20 July representatives of Fim Cisl and Uilm Uil will meet with the Tuscany Region's Crisis Unit to discuss the group's industrial and employment outlook. At the same time, Fiom Cgil has outlined its position regarding both a possible recovery plan and any future change of ownership.

The meeting follows two recent developments that have reshaped the discussion: the Florence Court's confirmation of the protective measures granted under the company's "blank" composition with creditors procedure, and the company's announcement that it intends to place around 200 direct employees under the Extraordinary Wage Guarantee Fund (CIGS) as part of its broader restructuring process.

According to Fim Cisl and Uilm Uil, the regional meeting cannot focus solely on direct employees but must also address the wider supply chain, involving more than 2,000 workers in total. On this basis, the two unions have identified several conditions they consider essential before accepting the use of social safety measures: direct payment by the company of wage support allowances to avoid INPS processing delays; an equitable rotation system for work suspensions; continued accrual of contractual benefits; and a different approach to holiday scheduling, which the unions claim is currently affecting the same groups of employees disproportionately.

There is also another issue that risks remaining in the background but which Fim and Uilm intend to bring to the centre of the discussion: subcontracting companies. Already affected by reductions in the amounts owed to them by TISG, many businesses in the supply chain have reportedly had their applications for Ordinary Wage Guarantee Fund (CIGO) rejected by INPS—a double setback that the unions will ask the Tuscany Region to address through targeted institutional action.

At the same time, Fiom Cgil has set out its own conditions for the next phase of the dispute, whether it leads to business continuity or the entry of new investors. According to the metalworkers' union, any industrial plan must preserve the current employment structure, including not only direct employees but also workers employed by contractors and subcontractors. The union also firmly rejects any proposal to split up the group's production sites. In Fiom's view, the company must remain a single integrated industrial entity, keeping together the Marina di Carrara shipyard (approximately 120,000 sqm), the La Spezia shipyard (around 30,000 sqm) and Celi 1920, the woodworking company in Terni controlled by TISG.

The union summed up its position with a metaphor that is likely to resonate throughout the coming weeks of negotiations: "If someone wants to take the cherry on top, they will first have to take the whole cake, including the supply chain."