“This year, the national celebration of May 1st will be even more full of meaning, because together with the traditional anniversary, the path that led us to mobilize and to ask, with ever greater determination, the government to strengthen dialogue with the confederations will be reaffirmed Trade unions to continue united in a common battle. In order to put an end to this tragic and unstoppable trail of blood, caused by accidents in the workplace, because work must be lived and not died. Furthermore, with social co-responsibility, we must be able to face it all the challenges on which the growth and future of the entire country depend”. This is what Maurizio Attanasio, general secretary of the CISL of Catania, declared to highlight the value of Workers’ Day. “But what particularly worries us, in anticipation of a symbolic date of the fight for the right to work and workers’ rights – he underlines – is what happened in the various squares, including Catania, on the occasion of the demonstrations for 25 April, Liberation Day Events which have brought out a climate of ideological opposition and which have nothing to do with the universalistic and democratic scope that Liberation Day should have, which we do not like and which worries us.”
“The celebration of April 25th, it is always good to underline – reiterates Attanasio – is a celebration for the liberation from fascism, for the freedom and democracy of the country. An anniversary that does not belong only to one party, be it political or trade union, but to all Italians, of any ideological, party and social background who believe and fight for democracy and freedom and do not want it to be suffocated by intolerance or totalitarians”. According to the secretary of the Catania CISL “the anniversaries of May 1st and April 25th are strongly linked and animated by indisputable principles and noble ideals. Such as: freedom, work and democracy. The entire CISL is firmly linked to deep and remote roots anti-fascists, and rejects every form of totalitarianism and fights, on a daily basis, for respect for the rights, dignity and freedom of people. A celebration that we have instead seen, once again and also in Catania – recalls Attanasio – become an opportunity to divide more than uniting, with burning flags and scuffles in marches. It is not a banner nor the presence or position in a march that allows one to boast the name of anti-fascist and to wave the banner of a free, open and republican nation as it is. Italy today. A disheartening spectacle, which worries us and which must question us and call us all to be responsible, to respect pluralism and the thoughts of others, just as we must ask ourselves who and what is the point of pitting workers against each other. When tempers become exasperated it becomes quite difficult to control them. We would never again want to see that escalation of clashes that shook the country, between opposing parties, which contributed to that period of serious political and social instability, which resulted in the Years of Lead.”
“We therefore appeal to all the responsible parties who intend to celebrate May 1st – concludes the number one of the Etna CISL – to make it the celebration of the entire world of work, to promote solidarity among workers and to reaffirm their rights and their demands. We do not allow infiltrations or maneuvers that pit workers, or citizens themselves, against each other, and let us not make it a confrontation between factions.”
