Deaths at work, Uil against Calderone. But the minister was Orlando

The confrontation between dignity and exploitation. It happened yesterday, during the presentation of a UIL study regarding deaths at work. Also present at the meeting was Emma Marrazzo, the mother of Luana D’Orazio, a young worker, just 22 years old, who died on the job, torn to pieces by a warping machine. “When I hear so many things said, when I hear talk of the points-based license – the woman said – well, Minister Calderone should come and live at my house to see what’s really happening”. A heartfelt appeal, marked by so much, dignified, suffering. Which was relaunched and amplified for the political clash by the leader of the UIL, Pierpaolo Bombardieri. “The Minister of Labor should go and live at Luana’s mother’s house. Nobody talks about what happens after the tragedy. There is no political will to address this problem”. And again: “We are tired of chatter and press conferences to make people believe that something is being done and then nothing is done”.

Evidently charged tones that distort the dialectic between unions and government on a very painful sore that should be addressed with a very different approach. And in fact the indignation of the majority arrives, which squares around the Labor Minister. From Brothers of Italy, the group leader in the Chamber Tommaso Foti observes: «Maintaining the utmost respect for the words of Luana’s mother, dictated by an understandable pain, we do not understand how they can be re-proposed by the representative of a union organization that points the finger at a member of the current government. That of deaths at work is a dramatic sore that must be fought transversally and cannot be resolved with a magic wand by a minister who took office 18 months ago». And he adds: «Marina Calderone was not the Minister of Labor when the girl died, but Andrea Orlando was, on whom I do not think Bombardieri ever fired cannonballs». Criticism of Bombardieri then came from the President of the Labor Commission of the Chamber, Walter Rizzetto, who observed: «Exploiting a tragedy is unacceptable. And it is a disgrace that an important union secretary expressed himself with these words. Shameful and also dangerous. I invite the same Uil to take a stand against such violent and inappropriate statements given also the fact that the current Minister of Labor Marina Calderone at the time of the events was preceded by Minister Orlando».

Marina Calderone also defends itself in the central area of ​​the coalition. This is the case of Pino Bicchielli, of us Moderates, who speaks of an “incomprehensible and specious controversy” on the part of the UIL secretary. While from Forza Italia, the national labor manager Chiara Tenerini reasons: «We support with great determination the measures to increase inspections, strengthen controls and promote training and prevention. We are also committed to introducing incentives for virtuous companies that invest in safety, helping companies to increase protection for workers.” Therefore, you add, «Speculating on a dramatic story like that of Luana D’Orazio, which also occurred under another Government, does not honor Bombardieri and is profoundly disrespectful».