OLBIA. Danilo Deiananew general secretary of the CGIL Gallura who recently took over to Luisa Di Lorenzoanswers our questions in reference to the Union’s current priorities, local issues on which to urgently intervene and employment in the tourism sector for summer 2024.
You are the new general secretary. What will her priorities be?
“There are various ways of understanding the concept of priority. Often, priority is simply understood to mean something that must be done before all others. However, priorities are such in relation to the relevance they have in our lives as a whole. In a territory like ours, we are well aware of the inequities and inequalities against which the categories are committed on a daily basis, in a constant action of defense and protection of workers, through bargaining and political-union action towards businesses and institutions.
An area where more than half of the employees are either seasonal or have a fixed-term contract. Seasonal workers work on average only 114 days a year with an annual salary that does not exceed €8,200, and – in the tourism sector – with all the problems resulting from the abolition of the seasonal unemployment allowance; those employed on a fixed-term basis do not exceed €10,200 per year in salary.
The effects of a poor job will also have repercussions on future pensions. Furthermore, the rate of irregularities found by the Inspectorate, above 70%, occurs mostly in the sectors of transport and warehousing and accommodation and catering services. Urgent issues for us such as work, transport, infrastructure, tourism development, housing, poverty, young people and the elderly, legality and safety, immigration, integration and therefore bargaining social are just examples.”
What are the most urgent problems to solve in Olbia and Gallura?
“First of all the Healthcare. It involves tackling complicated issues: rationalization of the hospital network; socio-health integration; territorial healthcare; redevelopment of emergency medicine and 118; the growth of the area of non-self-sufficiency and the development of preventive medicine interventions; of dehospitalization.
We are greatly concerned by the closure of an emergency department at Mater Olbia, specifically the Stroke Unit, temporarily closed due to a lack of medical staff. The unit specialized in the urgent treatment of strokes and acute cardiovascular disorders is absolutely necessary in an area like ours.
The collaboration in the emergency-urgency between the ASL Gallura and the Mater Olbia has made it possible to treat any neurological event in Gallura, while until a few years ago the patients would have had to refer to other areas. Stroke in the area has contributed to changing the clinical history of many patients who have had a better chance of healing and being able to return to a normal life. With the closure of the department, albeit temporarily, the lives and right to health of Gallura citizens are at stake.
Tourism and transport. It is necessary for everyone (institutions, representative associations, those working in the sector themselves) to become aware of the importance of the tourism sector and of the contribution that it is able to give to the economic system of the coastal territories but which it could also give to the internal if far-sighted programming and planning of sector policies were put in place. A solution could come with PNRR funds.
Workplace safety procurement. We are trying to stipulate memoranda of understanding with the Municipalities, perhaps starting with Olbia, to improve the assignment of some services to the procurement system. We insist that these assignments take place legally and transparently, and we always insert the social clause even where it is not foreseen to protect the continuity of work in the management of that service.
Legality. The fight for legality and to combat organized crime is an essential part of the battle for democracy, freedom and social justice. The results to be achieved are: the law on the regulation of public and private procurement, the fight against gangmastering, the fight against spurious cooperatives and companies fictitiously set up to circumvent workers’ rights, the rejection of any form of exploitation, the battle against tax and contribution illegality.
Gender bargaining. We strongly demand the issuing of plans for equal opportunities by our Municipalities and all local institutions. Let’s start talking again about reconciling life and work for women. For example, let us remind the Municipality of Olbia that there are very long waiting lists for access to nursery and nursery school and let us remind them that those mothers who put themselves on the list are often forced to abandon their jobs in order to look after their children. .
Fight against discrimination, immigration and disability. We encourage our base to recognize and fight, in the workplace, in institutions, at school, on the streets, discriminatory practices based on race, religion, sexual orientation and health conditions even when these are tacit and socially accepted. We must be promoters, particularly in Olbia where more than 5000 foreigners live, of rules and practices for welcoming refugees, facilitating true integration. As regards the issue of disability, we must try to support the processes of integrating disabled people into school, work and society, becoming promoters of the defense of their rights and protections. And above all we must defend the fund for non-self-sufficiency.
School. Education today, but even more so tomorrow, will have an extraordinary function for the definition of a new state identity, it will be the fundamental tool for creating tolerance and integration and it is precisely for this reason that we must keep our attention high. A territorial social bargaining that becomes everyone’s heritage and that rebuilds and, indeed, enhances the social and people protection system, which is a constant in our initiative for the reduction of inequalities”.
How do you see employment in the tourism sector for the next season?
“International tourism is growing in Gallura and at the same time tourist flows and business turnover are growing again, but despite this, we continue to record very high rates of precariousness, intermittent contracts, irregularities, undeclared work, involuntary part time, tenders, lack of economic support in favor of cyclical vertical part-time workers and social safety nets that do not fully protect seasonal workers.
It is necessary to define a model of sustainable development through a medium/long-term work plan based on three axes: employment protection, quality of work and the guarantee of health and safety conditions. We need investments in promotion (not the one carried out to date by the Sardinia Region which has only and exclusively led to the cancellation of bookings worth several million euros), and we need infrastructure.
On the work front, companies must be reminded, today more than yesterday, of a sense of social responsibility that they do not have. It is necessary to strengthen inspections and interventions to avoid irregularities and even widespread illegality. Tourism workers are the first interface with which tourists interact. They can contribute with a quality service to improve the holiday experience of travellers/users. To do this they must be trained, valued, correctly classified and adequately remunerated.
The union’s objective, therefore, is to improve the conditions of those who work, enforcing the rules and fighting abuses. Training, professionalism and quality are essential for tourism, a driving sector for the Italian economy, and for offering and obtaining a satisfactory service”.
Tags: Olbia Tourism invest training quality
