A Vittorio Veneto square packed today welcomed a Bergamoat 11, the highlight of the event First of May organized by the confederal trade unions CGIL, Cisl And Uil entitled «Let’s build a Europe of peace, work and social justice». And this while on the other side of the square, under the Tower of the Fallena sort of pro-Palestinian “counter-demonstration” was held, at times “noisy” and featuring music played at high volume from the speakers of a van, organized by Communist proletarians and from Communist refoundation.
At 11 o’clock, on the stage next to the Piacenza Center, the speeches began. Those of Marco Toscano And Francesco Cornaprovincial confederal secretaries, respectively, of CGIL and CISL, that of Pasquale Papaianni, territorial confederal coordinator of the Uil, but also those of the workers and delegates. Like the one of Domenico Bottone (Uil)safety officer in large-scale retail trade, by Giacomo D’Amelio (CISL school, teaches at Secco Suardo) or, again, of Olga Bonazzi from the Treves of Cazzano Sant’Andrea, who illustrated the state of crisis and concern of the company’s workers.
The final intervention was entrusted to Ugo Ducigeneral secretary of the CISL Lombardy, who spoke above all about Europe and peace, first with reference to Ukraine, then to Israel and Palestine, using clear words: «Today, like April 25th and June 2nd, it is the celebration of democracy. Never forget the sacrifices made to have it, and to have peace. For two years there has been a war in Europe unleashed by a bloodthirsty and imperialist autocrat against a sovereign state. Let Europe be the protagonist: immediately work towards negotiations for a just peace. And Europe must be present and united to address the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. We need two states for two peoples, it’s the only solution. Europe must stop Netanyahu: the horrible Hamas massacre of October 7 cannot be a reason for a massacre of Palestinians.”
Marco Toscano of the CGIL underlined the issue of safety at work: «For Bergamo, 2023 was a very difficult year and 2024 has already begun with three deaths at work». A problem «which is not only Italian, but also European, as they demonstrate the three million accidents at work every year. And it is an underestimated figure.” As for Europe, in fact, «it was a project born in one of the darkest moments, during the war, in the mind of Altiero Spinelli in Ventotene. A project of peace, work, social justice: all themes that are still very current today.” And here the references, in addition to peace (“Let Europe regain its leading role in building peace: immediately work towards a ceasefire in all ongoing conflicts») were the fight against the gender gap, access to public healthcare as a fundamental right, measures to combat poverty, and migration policies that aim “to welcome and include”. Also for Pasquale Papaianni of Uil “The main reason why we are here is to ask for peace, for all people.”
Olga Bonazzi, RSU of Trevesexplained from the stage, concretely, the difficulties of the workers: «I have been working for 36 years for a company in Cazzano Sant’Andrea which today is called Treves Italia». At the beginning it was the Radici Carpet Factory, then it became Roi Automotive Technology, also from the Radici family(car accessories), «from 2021 the entire ownership has passed to a large multinational group». And here the troubles began, culminating ten days ago with the summons from the Italian manager: «We were told in a concise manner that the order to close our factory in Cazzano had arrived from France to move all production to the second factory Aprilia which, they say, will save on transport costs, being closer to the client Stellantis’ factories in Melfi, Pomigliano and Cassino”. At that moment, he continues, “we realized that all the work done and all the production done from February until now was to create a large warehouse stock, to be able to easily close the company in July and move the machinery” . The conclusion: “We feel cheated”. Mobilization and strikes have already begun: e Tomorrow, Monday 2 May, a meeting is scheduled at the Confindustria in Bergamo.
The speeches ended around midday. And the crowd began to disperse to the tune of «Countess” Of Paolo Pietrangeli.
