Naples, 1 May. (Adnkronos) – “It is necessary to launch an extraordinary plan for safety in the workplace so that work is a project of life and not of death. There is a need to make courageous choices and implement the Confsal proposals which make up the safety decalogue for participatory prevention”. Thus Angelo Raffaele Margiotta, general secretary of Confsal-General Confederation of Autonomous Workers’ Unions, on the occasion of the seventh edition of the ‘Labour Day‘ which was held this morning in Naples.
More dignity at work, more health and safety, more pay equity and more development and employment are the main themes of the event. “Youth employment passes through the development of the South, making it urgent for the administrations to change pace from a structural, procedural and bureaucratic point of view to attract investments from a social-legal point of view”, recalled Margiotta who added: “ It is necessary to create a common front, so that our young people do not abandon their territories and also the paths of legality”.
Closely linked to the theme of employment development is that of training – and in particular the professional training system – which must be reviewed and updated because, as the Confsal secretary highlighted “In addition to financial capital, human capital is needed: young people must become development factor by acquiring the skills needed for the job market, especially in emerging sectors”.
Also focus on pay equity. “With two innovative contracts we have recently established a minimum table of 9 euros gross per hour in all economic sectors of manufacturing and in all sectors of the tertiary sector, demonstrating that the minimum economic dignity that must derive from work, i.e. the so-called minimum wage, can be established with quality collective bargaining without the need for law,” observed Margiotta.
“Giving dignity to work also means giving dignity to those workers in difficulty because they are fragile or disabled. Fragility and disability are not the same thing but they have in common a state of difficulty that society, deaf and insensitive, transforms into a real handicap because it prevents them from overcoming it. This is why we will present a ‘Decalogue for disability and fragility’ from which an implementing protocol for the legislation on disability in the workplace must derive, in order to eliminate any discrimination”, he added.
Margiotta then took the opportunity to reiterate Confsal’s commitment to equal opportunities: “The trade union and cultural issue to be addressed is that of equal opportunities for progress during working life. The reduction of gender inequalities and the participation of women in decision-making roles would certainly bring benefits not only in terms of fairness and equality but also of economic growth and would make Italy a competitive country also suitable for women. Confsal is committed to promoting innovative organizational models that guarantee growth and training opportunities for everyone, with flexible working hours and the introduction of fringe benefits designed for the well-being of workers”, underlined the secretary. Finally, a thought on the theme of peace: “In this spread of war scenarios in many parts of the world we need to listen to the Pope’s invitation that it is no longer weapons that speak but diplomacy and negotiations so that we can once again listen to word Peace”, he concluded.