Foligno, 1 May 2024 – On this wet day of May Day, the echo of the words of Angelo Manzotti (Umbrian secretary of the CISL) resonates as a hymn to hope and transformation. He calls for a Europe that does not retreat into restriction, but that embraces cohesion and economic expansion, relaunching the beating heart of its markets and industries.
In Foligno, the scene of the regional Labor Day demonstration, union leaders did not limit themselves to making speeches, but to painting a vibrant picture of a Europe that embraces peace, work and social justice as fundamental pillars of its essence.
After the greetings of the president of the municipal council of Foligno, Lorenzo Schiarea, the secretary of the CGIL Umbria intervened, Maria Rita Paggio, focusing attention on the importance of peace for economic and employment development.
“Peace, work and social justice are the foundations on which Europe rebuilt itself after the Second World War and are also the founding values of our Constitutional Charter”, said the CGIL secretary Paggio at the beginning of her speech: “It is the idea of using wars as a means of regulating interests, first and foremost economic, is unacceptable, which is why the first request, which is also from the UN, is the immediate ceasefire”.
Maria Rita Paggio (secretary of the CGIL Umbria), with her decisive voice, called for the cessation of the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, claiming a world where international disputes are not resolved with blood, but with compassion and the meeting between nations.
In the fervor of the trade union discourse, the urgency of a society that renews itself, that faces with courage and solidarity the great challenges of our time, such as climate change and migration, emerges. Justice at work becomes a shining beacon in the darkness of disparities, while Maurizio Molinari (secretary of Uil Umbria) bitterly underlined the tragedy of the thousand deaths a year at work, a scourge that continues to claim unacceptable victims.
In this scenario of mobilization and hope, the words of trade unionists are not just calls to action, but promises of a better future, where decent work, peace and solidarity are the foundation on which to build a more just and prosperous Europe for everyone.
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