Reports of accidents are increasing, occupational diseases are proliferating and four workers have already died at work in Sardinia in the first months of this year, one more than in 2023. And it happens in a context in which precarious contracts are growing, to the detriment of permanent positions.
The issue of health and safety in the workplace is the cause of the national strike of the private sectors called by CGIL and UIL for 11 April which, on the island, will be divided into five demonstrations from North to South: meeting in front of the headquarters of the Prefectures in Cagliari, in Piazza Palazzo from 9.30 to 13, in Nuoro in via Deffenu from 10 to 12, in Oristano in Via Beatrice D'Arborea, and then again, in Sassari the garrison in Piazza Caduti del Lavoro from 9 to 13 and in Portoscuso , in the square in front of the Enel Grazia Deledda power plant from 8am to 1pm.
Inail data on accidents at work
Even in Sardinia, the increase in workplace accidents, unfortunately in line with the national trend, is worrying. In the month of February alone, there was a +17.6% increase in accidents reported to INAIL (there were 710 in February 2023, there are 835 this year), +6% in the data relating to the two-month period January-February, in which a total of 1746 complaints (there were 1650 in the first two months of 2023) . Over 89% of accidents occur at work, the others while commuting.
Regarding the sectors, 71.4% occurs in industry and services with the highest figure in construction but with growth also in agriculture. Reports increase in all territories except Oristano: Cagliari and Sassari, with 33% and 27%, are those with the most cases, followed by Southern Sardinia with 18%. Accidents mainly concern men (64.8%) and people of Italian nationality (96.3%), and are concentrated between the ages of 40 and 64, especially among the over 50s (around 41%). Cases among young people up to 29 years old represent 21%, a slight decrease compared to the same period of the previous year, while the figure for thirty-year-olds is growing (+8%). But it is above all adult workers who record the greatest increase in injury reports: +13.6% between 50 and 74 years of age. Reports of occupational diseases have increased significantly compared to the first two months of 2023: from 729 to 1255, in 86% of cases they concern men, mainly employed in the Industry and Services sector. The province of Cagliari concentrates 58% of complaints, followed by Oristano and Southern Sardinia with 14% and 12%.
The first two months of 2024 already have 4 reports of fatal accidents: three in Cagliari and one in Sassari.
Labor market data and precariousness
The regional picture differs in a negative sense compared to the national one. The sore point is the precarious nature of the new contracts given that fixed-term and precarious employment relationships are prevalent in the Sardinian labor market. New hires in 2023 were 218,488 compared to 216,709 in 2022, equal to +0.8%, which highlights a further slowdown in growth already detected in 2022. New permanent hires represent 11.2%, a slight decrease compared to the previous year (11.5%), while 87.4% are regulated by fixed-term contracts (44.2%) and by more precarious, seasonal, temporary and intermittent contracts (43, 19%). The latter affect female workers more: 45.4% compared to 41% of men and if fixed-term contracts are considered, the figure reaches 88.8% (male workers are 86%). Together with women, young people are the most vulnerable: one job in two offered to young people is regulated by the most precarious contracts (seasonal, temporary and intermittent), almost 10 percentage points more than for workers over 50.
As regards the labor market indicators, in 2023 the employment rate recorded +1.2%, and stood at 56.1%, lower than the national average (61.5%). Above all, female employment is growing compared to the previous year, while male employment is stable: in any case, these are values that do not compensate for the different participation in the labor market between male and female workers (63% compared to 49 .1%, was 46.7% in 2022). Unemployment went from 11.8% to 10.2% (7.8% the national average). The youth employment rate between the ages of 15 and 24 is 18.5%, with a difference of approximately 8 percentage points between genders (22.7 compared to 14% for women). Confirming their greater fragility, young people have a very high unemployment rate: 16 percentage points higher than the regional average (26.7% compared to 10.2%).
The reasons for the strike
There are various reasons that led the unions to call a four-hour strike in the private sectors and eight in the construction sector throughout Italy, reasons that are felt more than ever in Sardinia, given the situation relating to both safety in the workplace and data on employment and precariousness.
There are three priority objectives of CGIL and UIL for Thursday 11th, which will be followed by the demonstration in Rome scheduled for 20th April: the first, summarized in the slogan "Zero deaths at work" aims to overcome cascade subcontracting, strengthen surveillance and prevention activities, enhance training, subordinate public funding and incentives to the application of collective agreements signed by the most representative trade unions; the second point, "For a fair tax reform", has as its objective the reduction of taxation on work and pensions, a progressive taxation that excludes the flat tax, the fight against tax evasion which amounts to around 90 billion a year with which health, education and investments could be financed; the third point, "A new social and business model" puts the value of work and the quality of stable and non-precarious employment back at the centre, starting from the renewal of contracts.
(Unioneonline/E.Fr.)
