«Work is inextricably linked to the person, to their dignity, to their social dimension, to the contribution that everyone can and must make to participation in the life of society. Work is not a commodity ."

Thus the President of the Republic speaking in Calabria on the eve of the Labor Day during a visit to some companies in the Cosentino area.

«Tomorrow is May Day. Labor Day and therefore of the Republic, which the constituents wanted to base precisely on work ", recalled Sergio Mattarella , underlining that work is "the basic element of our democratic identity". «It is not just a reference to the values of freedom and equality - he added - but the indication of a living social model, projected towards cohesion and solidarity. Capable, therefore, of continuously removing, over time, the obstacles that take away opportunities from people and prevent the full exercise of rights."

Work is "freedom", said the President. « First of all, freedom from need, and a tool for expressing oneself and realizing oneself in life . Work must be free from conditioning, imbalances, abuses that create marginalization and therefore represent the opposite of its role and its meaning."

Mattarella is pleased with the employment data, which «as a whole shows significant growth. The positive trend concerns a large part of Europe, Italy first and foremost, and this is a source of great satisfaction for all of us. It is good news that jobs have increased, and also permanent contracts. So is the growth of female employment. Of course we must not forget the social and territorial disparities that persist; the excluded; the phenomenon of precarious and underpaid jobs. The low level of pay at the first entry of young people into the world of work, which induces many of them to go abroad under better conditions".

The importance of trade unions : «In republican history, important pushes for progress, for the definition and diffusion of rights, for the modernization of companies themselves have come from the confrontation between institutions and social partners. The intermediate bodies are a characterizing element of the design of our Constitution and bring benefits to Italy. The trade union movement - bearer of democratic values - is an irrepressible interlocutor for the development of fruitful collective, sector and company bargaining ."

Then the sore points, from gangmastering to white deaths. «The issue of immigration has a great impact on the agricultural supply chain. Migrant workers are an essential part of agricultural production and the subsequent transformation of its products. But, in some cases, gray areas of work - which border on illegality, exploitation or even take advantage of it - generate injustice and, furthermore, insecurity, tensions, conflicts. And they offer spaces to criminal organizations. Supervision is, therefore, a specific duty. On delinquent forms of gangmastering.
On the inhuman conditions into which, in some cases, seasonal workers are thrown , sometimes without names or identities."

The victims: « We cannot accept the continuous drip of deaths, caused by carelessness, imprudence, risks that should not have been taken. A thousand deaths at work in a year represent an unimaginable tragedy. Each of them is unacceptable ."

(Unioneonline)

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