Bologna, August 27, 2026 – “They abandoned us.” Stefania Valdiserra, 58 years old, and Annamaria Casalini, 52 years old, have worked at Gaggio Tech for 30 years. Since the times of Saeco and Saga Coffee. Crisis, layoffs, pickets. Struggles, battles, appeals. Entrepreneurs come and go, companies arrive. Up to Gaggio Tech, the current Minifaber in a portion of the great company that once was, and to a dismissal letter that shatters every possible dream of returning to work. Both today and in the future. “The worst thing is that no one gives us any information anymore, not even about Naspi. We are at the mercy of whatever might happen. This is not normal. When we moved from Evoca to Gaggio Tech, the unions did a lot. Today, instead, they have done little,” the two workers continue in unison, respectively from Gaggio Montano and Vidiciatico, a district of Lizzano in Belvedere.
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The dismissal letter
Tuesday afternoon they were together with about twenty colleagues in Silla. A meeting point after the holidays to talk about what could happen. Then the cold shower. Actually, icy. “With reference to the collective dismissal procedure, I hereby communicate the termination of the existing employment relationship.” A short letter, signed by the liquidator Mattia Berti, which ends up in the email of 79 workers, mostly women, over 50 and with families behind them. People who will now have difficulty reinventing themselves and relocating after spending half their lives – if not more – inside those warehouses that made the history of Italian coffee, directly from the Bolognese Apennines. “For me, it is impossible to look for a new job and employment, I have no experience. I have always made coffee machines and if I don’t work in this sector I don’t know how to do anything,” says Stefania sadly. Annamaria is no less: “What do you do here? There is nothing. We will have to reinvent ourselves. We are all in such a bad situation. There are no young people dismissed.”
Concern for the Apennine industry
A real concern then. Not only for Gaggio Montano, but for the entire Apennine industry. “By laying off all these people, the territory will die even more. We have only heard promises, both from the Region and the unions. We are at the mercy of the waves,” the two workers continue. They want to reveal a background story that happened years ago, when the entrepreneur from Bergamo Giuseppe Melocchi revealed the company branch dedicated to sheet metal, Minifaber. Here, in 2023, about forty workers ended up. While the plastics branch (Tecnostamp) soon went into crisis and subsequently never found a real buyer, with 80 people thus left without work. From here a negotiation to start the layoff fund, that economic support which will expire on Monday (it was supposed to end on September 31, but an agreement in July, signed at the Ministry of Labor, reduced the extraordinary measure by one month). But, meanwhile, no new entrepreneur at the door. “Actually, a local one had shown interest, he would have expanded his nearby company. Gradually, perhaps, he would have hired some of us. But nothing came of it,” explain the two now former workers, supported by Elisa Gialli, 50 years old.
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They speak of injustice, sadness, concern
“We are a bit bitter about everything that has happened. We talk to citizens and they are surprised that from Tuesday we will all be at home. We are doing our best, but we will never go back to work. But we want justice,” conclude the three workers in unison. Now for them, at the doorstep, there is Naspi. For some it will start immediately, for others instead it will take months. Relocating or reinserting will be very difficult. A promise that the Region made on July 21, directly from Silla. Two million, with a call, to encourage the hiring of those who lose their jobs in internal areas. With 15,000 per company for each new hire. September is at the door. The Apennines suffer. And 79 workers are officially at home.
