«Certain absences can be measured at a distance; they go far beyond the immediate, while we do exactly the opposite: there let’s involve immediately and then we forget. While the absence we know how long it is, a whole life. We must try to treasure this pain so that it becomes security and justice.” It is with these words, referring primarily to the family members and victims of the Suviana massacre, that the cardinal and president of the CEI Matteo Zuppi he opened the May Day celebrations from the stage in Piazza Maggiore in Bologna, accompanied by the mayor Matteo Lepore and the territorial general secretaries of the unitary unions CGIL, CISL and UIL.
May Day in Bologna and the memory of the Suviana power plant
The tragedy at the Bargi hydroelectric power plant, in the municipality of Camugnano, which it took the lives of seven technicians and workers and for which the mayor announced the constitution of the Municipality as a civil party in the processwas therefore the starting point to return to talking about that lack of safety at work which causes casualties every day: «Contracts and insecurity have made deaths at work are a calculated risk», said Michele Bulgarelli, general secretary of the CGIL, Metropolitan Chamber of Labor of Bologna, asking like the other interlocutors for «truth and justice» on Suviana. But the tragedy of April 9th it was also the opportunity to return to addressing the issues of precariousness, wages that were too low, and the various open disputes also in the Emilia-Romagna area, from Marelli to La Perla, up to Industria Italiana Autobus.
And it is also in this wake that there has been talk of the right to strike, under attack, as reiterated by Bulgarelli, «systematically by minister Matteo Salvini with precepts. Democracy must be taken care of, demonstrating and striking whenever necessary and whenever there is an injustice to be countered.”
Antonio Tajani visits Emilia-Romagna
May Day, in other words, should last all year: “Work must be celebrated every day, it must be built, it must be ensured that there are rich salaries, it must be ensured that there are no more deaths at work”, added the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, on the sidelines of a visit to the Cooperation Festival underway in Bagnacavallo, in the Ravenna area, to the plant of the Agrentità agricultural cooperative. «It’s good to increase the number of inspectors and maybe help businesses tax relief on investments in safety”he then continued.
Stefano Bonaccini: «The Pact for work and the climate in Europe»
A similar wish also came from the president of Emilia-Romagna and candidate for the next European elections, Stefano Bonaccini: “Good May 1! So that work is dignified, less precarious and increasingly safe. As we have tried to do in these ten years in Emilia-Romagna, working together with companies and unions in the Pact for Work and the Climate. The results are visible: Emilia-Romagna is the fastest growing region in Italy and the unemployment rate is below 5%. This model must also be brought to the heart of the European Union, in Brussels, because it is there that the future of all of us is decided: respect for work must proceed from hand in hand with that of the climate. Commissioner Schmit also spoke on that occasion with all the social partners of Emilia-Romagna and indicated the Pact as a virtuous way to share strategic choices for the community”.
May 8th is the day of remembrance for the victims
Returning to deaths at work, the victims of Suviana they will also be remembered next week with the start of the celebrations for the Madonna of San Luca: «We have invited, I don’t know if they will be able to come, relatives and mayors of the affected areas, of Camugnano and of all the mountain areas which are an example of closeness and attention in pain”, recalled Zuppi. In fact, the icon’s descent into the city is scheduled for next year on Saturday 4 May, while the return to Colle della Guardia on Sunday 12 May. On May 8, in the afternoon, a moment of remembrance and prayer is scheduled in Piazza Maggiore for those who lost their lives and were injured in the explosion at the Bargi hydroelectric power plant, on the occasion of the traditional blessing of the city of the icon of the Blessed Virgin.
