twelve o’clock, May 1, 2021 – 10:11 am
of Mario Rusciano
Labor day today. Once a great party: processions, bands, flags; songs, rallies and concertos. For workers the opportunity to claim dignity and well-being. For the unions the opportunity to demonstrate strength and unity (sometimes fake), proselytize and affirm representativeness. On the other hand, the date recalls the bloody repression of workers who claimed rights (1886 in Chicago; 1947 in Portella della Ginestra in Sicily). Other subjects, discriminated against for various reasons, gradually join the trade union marches. They invoke “equal social dignity” and equality “without distinction of sex, race, language, religion, political opinions, personal and social conditions” (art. 3 of the Constitution). They are primarily unemployed (more or less organized). And then: students; feminists; disabled; homeless people; inhabitants of forgotten suburbs, young people from social centers (not always peaceful); immigrants etc …
They urge the state to fight injustice, inequality and poverty. May 1st is the feast of social demands: from workers to employers; of dispossessed to public power. This for the history of the twentieth century (the century of work!). Already towards its end and at the beginning of the 21st century, the socio-economic scenario changes and on May 1st it begins to lose its bite. Globalization and technological innovation revolutionize the productive organization: the Taylor-Fordist enterprise wanes, the old working class moves into oblivion and the union weakens. Then comes the pandemic which for a couple of years has aggravated the situation of workers in many sectors. Work decreases and unemployment increases, certainly not stemmed by the freeze on layoffs, an emergency transitional measure. The new business organization reduces work, fragments it and disperses it in various ways. And the legislator responds by inventing new professional figures that lower the border between subordinate and self-employed work. The news catches the union unprepared, which is struggling to act against deindustrialization (especially in the South), the rash articulation of corporate organizations and relocations (Whirlpool case). It is difficult to keep together the interests of old and new professional categories and find new strategies for protecting workers.
With these glaring metamorphoses and the tragic pandemic, May 1st loses the ancient essence of the festival (now impossible to celebrate due to the prohibition of gatherings), but not the ideal of defending the dignity and protection of work. In fact, the related discipline goes beyond the circle of a single class, expanding the range of action. Indeed, precisely in the new and complicated socio-economic context, it highlights the relevance of the Constitution. If Italy is a democratic republic founded on work (art. 1), this must be protected in all its forms and applications (art. 35). While once the protection was (almost) reserved only for subordinate workers as opposed to entrepreneurs, today it is not so. As socio-economic subordination and organizational subordination go hand in hand with technical subordination, other strong contrasts, inequalities and exploitation arise.
VAT-numbers, part-time collaborators of several employers, riders, etc. it is the presumed self-employed workers who are worse off than many subordinates and much worse than public employees (although not all of them are sailing in gold). In short, the new professional figures, regardless of the formal classification, require new protections to safeguard the dignity of work. This, of course, is independent of the disaster of the pandemic. The many whom it has taken away from work (restaurateurs, hoteliers, artisans, taxi drivers, street vendors, etc.) must be helped with the famous refreshments, that is, with social safety nets reserved for those who, even temporarily, have no means of subsistence (Article 38 of the Constitution).
In the meantime, it is necessary not to give in to the easy temptation of turning May 1 into the holiday of the state subsidy, especially after the rain of money from the Recovery Plan. Now the appropriate way to celebrate it is to link the stormy climate of the country to the mandatory duty of political, economic and social solidarity (art. 2 of the Constitution). Which is incumbent on every citizen aware of the situation in the country. Italy’s debt is enormous and it will not be easy to use European funding fruitfully and quickly. Moreover, only a small part of EU money is given away; most cause soaring debt. To cope with which the economy needs to grow. This depends on the competence and wisdom of politicians and rulers, but it also depends on responsible citizens, individually taken.
Just a few examples. Whoever carries out an activity, whatever it is – from the highest to the humblest – must do so by embracing the culture of professionalism and productivity. Young people must commit themselves to studies and training. Entrepreneurs must invest and hire stable workers rather than lay off; devote himself to the training and training of apprentices. Trade unionists must represent real needs and not defend intolerable privileges; especially in public employment they must ban corporatism, collusion and conflicts of interest. Public managers, responsible for the efficiency of the administration, must remember that they are at the service of the community and not of the politician on duty. The examples could multiply but one thing is certain. In the present darkness of the nation and with many clouds on the horizon, the strength of May 1st lies in the commitment of mobilization and social responsibility of all of us: the only serious way to celebrate Labor Day!
May 1, 2021 | 10:11
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