«More hours of work are needed»

«The Salerno model is no longer a source of pride for the port sector». Thus begins a long letter addressed to professionals, politicians and company managers Campania Region and the Municipality of Salerno and which also includes trade unions. Not a simple letter but a cry of alarm and the beginning of a state of crisis in which the port workers of the Culp Flavio Gioia cooperative who for years and from generation to generation has worked and continues to do so – despite the difficulties – within the commercial port of the city of Arechi. This time they could stop and face a social crisis for all the citizens of Salerno. The figure is worrying and translates into “one hundred and fifty Salerno workers at risk of dismissal”.

THE PHOTOGRAPHY

Turning on the spotlight is the president-consul of the “Flavio Gioia” cooperative Vincenzo D’Agostino. Port workers – in short – provide their labor during peak production times for companies that work within the port. In short, “on-call” work that is slowly decreasing, leaving the operators in precarious conditions. It is D’Agostino himself who rewinds the tape and warns of the concrete and serious danger of layoffs. A time bomb, in practice, with the social crisis that could result. Balances that are missing, pieces of a puzzle that reveal an alarming and even confusing picture. The only certainty is that in the search for dialogue and solutions, up to now, there has been silence. «The heavy ordinary loss recorded in the year 2023, over 650 thousand euros – writes D’Agostino – forces the adoption of measures: recourse to redundancy payments for administrative and technical workers and opening of the state of corporate crisis with a reduction in remuneration». A situation which – according to some rumors – is also due to the use of unauthorized personnel (such as maritime workers) whose labor is nevertheless “used” despite not being authorised. «We need work – we read – no more hiring by companies operating in the port of Salerno, no more deregulation with labor exchange, no more management of work peaks without resorting to cooperative staff, no more employing individuals and workers in port operations who cannot carry them out. It’s over, there are 150 families who no longer have a future, the consequence of all this will be dismissal.”

SOLIDARITY

The “fault” lies with an entire system which does not seem to find the right balance even through mediation between businesses, cooperatives and employees, attempted by the president of the port system authority Andrea Annunziata: «We have had several meetings in recent months: the port workers system as it once was no longer exists. We turn to Culp when there are peaks in work and only smaller companies do it: thus there is a lack of work. There have been moments of transition to help these workers – declared Annunziata – we have tried and are trying to mediate, also looking for collaborations with more companies and hoping that there is a possibility of convenience but it is now the market that decides. We are close to these workers and we try to help them, the companies have always collaborated but unfortunately between the pandemic and the crisis other difficulties have arisen for them too”. Also showing solidarity Gerardo Arpino, secretary of the CGIL of Salerno, always alongside the workers: «We learned of the opening of the state of crisis of the port company. Being strongly concerned about the stability of employment and salary levels, we immediately worked in these hours to request an urgent meeting with the main players of this note to have a joint table with political forces and company unions in order to reach an agreement that keep within the protection of the workers of the port company”.

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