SPADAFORA – On Labor Day, CISL, MCL and the Diocesan Office organized a meeting focused on social problems and work. After the Holy Mass celebrated by Don Sergio Siracusano, with Father Alessandro Lo Nardo and the deacon Salvatore Nolasco, we talked about participation and democracy. Siracusano underlined how organizations and the Church can work together and recover and enhance the subjectivity of work, so that this is not only considered a productive act, but an expression of the person and the contribution they give to their community: “Together we must commit ourselves against every form of exploitation at work, for the right to decent work but also to rest”.
Alibrandi (CISL): “Objective of zero deaths at work”
The general secretary of the CISL Messina, Antonino Alibrandi, had to talk about safety at work and work itself: “These are delicate issues, now in Italy the numbers of deaths at work are ‘conflict’ considering that the average is over a thousand l ‘year. These are numbers that should make everyone reflect. As Cisl, for months, we have been meeting our members with assemblies in the workplace to raise awareness of the culture of work. A path that led to the large assembly of CISL managers and security delegates in Rome on 13 April. Discussions and government discussions have been initiated which have led to concrete results such as the strengthening of inspectors in the bodies concerned but work still needs to be done on the points-based license and for greater economic resources to be used for training on workplace safety. We, as CISL, are aiming for this to reach the goal of zero deaths at work. Important results have already been obtained but we need to continue along this line because we cannot see outcry only when a worker loses his life, we need prevention and training to avoid them.”
On the development and work front, Alibrandi underlined the need to work in synergy on the territory: “We have been repeating it for years, we need an agreement between all the social and institutional actors, we need planning, synergy and a network like today’s with MCL and the Diocese, with the pastoral care of work. Networking means creating a system that makes the territory attractive, starting from public investments but also guaranteeing support for private investments, recovering the territory. Work is fundamental for people’s freedom, investing in work with the application of national contracts means giving dignity to people, to the entire social context of the territory”.
Romano (Mcl): “Worry about poverty”
Then Rosanna Mortelliti, vice-president of Ucid Messina, reiterated that “the development of the territory, its valorisation, cannot ignore an entrepreneurial action imbued with Christian values which always puts the person at the center and which looks to sustainable development environmental Protection”. And finally Fortunato Romano, president of Mcl Messina: “The commitment to work and workers is the essence of the social action of our organisation, which we implement every day in collaboration with the Church, with local institutions and with other many organizations active in labor policies and which finds its manifesto on May 1st. A manifesto that is enriched today by the organizations that have chosen to engage with us to affirm, in continuity with the message of the Italian Bishops, the community dimension of work. So today we must look at the worker as an activator of well-being not only for himself or his family, but also for his community. Likewise, concern about in-work poverty is amplified because the negative effects go far beyond the individual. Faced with a labor market that is showing timid but positive growth, the challenge is that of the social impact of work, but above all of dignified work. Let us look carefully at the innovation that is affecting the country, at the new development policies, at the investments of the PNRR which, however, will not leave true well-being to the territories if they are not accompanied by policies that encourage safe, sustainable and person-friendly work”.
