Firefighters’ strike: mobilization also in Vibo

“The State Body most loved by Italians but at the same time the least protected. Stories of firefighters, of women and men continually involved in rescuing flood victims, putting out fires, protecting the population, and being the first to intervene in the event of earthquakes and other catastrophes and emergencies. Praised by the institutions, forgotten when the critical issues that torment the category need to be resolved.” Vitaliano Papillo, provincial secretary of Cisal of Vibo Valentia explains the reasons for the mobilization promoted by the General Secretariat of Federdistat VV.F. Cisal for next May 14th in Piazza Santi Apostoli in Rome. A strike – he explains – in which a large delegation from the Federdistat Cisal of Vibo will also participate, led by the provincial secretary Salvatore Lucà, with the aim of raising political awareness, making the cry of uneasiness of the personnel of the workers reach the Government and all the parliamentary forces directly. Fire fighters. A category that continues to deal with inequalities in the field of social security, career enhancement, contract renewal to which is added an atavistic shortage of personnel, furthermore aggravated by the consequences of climate change which multiply the frequency and intensity of ordinary help. A national and local suffering – he underlines – which in our latitudes is linked above all to organic plants, which are undersized compared to the territory. A serious problem that risks becoming unsustainable if we look at the retirements expected in the coming years. And then there is the issue of unsuitable vehicles and locations, some of which are obsolete. In Serra San Bruno, to cite an example, there is a detachment that needs major internal and external renovation works as well as the vehicles used, which are now obsolete. An office in great difficulty due to a time change applied to the staff which went from 24 hours a day to 12 hours a day which thus produced a high number of commuter workers called upon to shoulder further expenses deriving from the doubling of trips to cover the day and night duty shifts. Condition that must be changed by restoring the time to 24 hours. In short – Papillo comments – all situations that are no longer tolerable and become hot, it is appropriate to say, in the summer season when the staff with great sacrifice and sense of responsibility is forced, due to the ever taming phenomenon of fires, to make up for the shortcomings resorting to exhausting additional shifts, putting their own safety at risk with the sole aim of guaranteeing the protection and safeguarding of citizens”.