«I've never seen such wickedness as the one I encountered in Sardinia. I have fed many, for many years, and this is the result. Enough, I'm leaving." Milanese, with a very Milanese accent and dialectic, Renato Grassini uses words that come from a soul between embittered and poisoned. Entrepreneur, he is the owner of Geri HDP, a debt collection company with various offices in Italy and abroad. One is in Cagliari , in via Ticca, where Ge.Ri Sardegna works. At the end of October it was visited by the administrative police nucleus of the Cagliari Police Headquarters. Irregularities have emerged and the sanction has been triggered: 30 days of closure of the activity. A punishment that he considers abnormal: the classic straw that broke the camel's back.

Its forty employees are at home (there were even 150 in the past), it is not certain that they will pay their salaries. And the reopening is also uncertain: «But who makes me do it? Only there, with you», he underlines on the phone from Lyons ("beautiful city", he is keen to say), "certain things have happened to me. It will be the wickedness that comes from past periods of domination, I don't know. But certainly in this way Sardinia risks not going anywhere» , blurts out Grassini.

THE CONTROLS. The Ge.Ri. committed with the energy and telephony giants. Who entrust her with the task of recovering money from insolvent customers. It has been active on the island since the 1990s. The legislation that governs the sector is stringent: «It dates back to the Fascist period, so to speak», underlines Grassini. It provides that the names of all processed files are communicated to the Ministry of the Interior. From checks by the Guardia di Finanza first and then by the administrative police, discrepancies between names and files would have emerged. A good number, according to the supervisory authorities. «Only seven», claims the Milanese entrepreneur, «Seven unregistered names due to a simple mistake out of the 200,000 that we work with each year. And they close my business for thirty days?», he wonders. «But do those who carry out the checks think about the problems they create?», is the other question, «I have sent all the employees home. I have no turnover problems, I have transferred the Cagliari activities elsewhere. I have offices in Milan, Rome, Turin. And also in Madrid, Brighton and Lyon, in fact. But it is not said that I will pay salaries in Sardinia ». What about the unions? «Ah, let them slaughter each other, there in Cagliari. I don't even know if I will reopen ».

THE BUREAUCRACY. Because, says Grassini, things would happen on this side of the Tyrrhenian Sea that don't happen elsewhere: « The ASL had come. He had complained about a filler neck that was 30 centimeters instead of 45. But what are we talking about? And then some employees: I've been feeding them for years», he repeats once again, «I also hired the wives of some. And they are the ones that give me the most problems ».

THE DISCHARGE. For Grassini it is not a general problem between entrepreneur and employees, as everywhere: «No, no. Never like in Sardinia. Never". And he also brings up another example, to demonstrate that it would be precisely the character, wrong: «I have a house in Villasimius», he says, «I have renovated it a few times, I have fed half the town», he says, tapping again on the same argument, «but when I disembark at the airport and set out on the street I see the words “Tourism equals exploitation”. But can the Sardinians really still think of such a thing?».

THE LEGAL. Returning to the sanction: the law provides for it. Only that the timing of the appeals would perhaps not be compatible with the business activity: «An entrepreneur like Grassini has invested in the area for 30 years», explains his lawyer, Giovanni Griffanti, «he has faced various difficulties (just think of the covid and market downturns) and despite this, it has guaranteed work to 40 people (families) in Cagliari alone (the same number in Rome, Milan, Turin and foreign branches): it is obvious that you expect to deal with a Public Administration that is not blind or deaf, but attentive and able to balance the legal/bureaucratic aspects with the socio-economic ones. No rebates are expected, but attention and willingness to (real) comparison. In the case under comment both one and the other were missing. It is obvious that in the end an entrepreneur may think he has to throw in the towel" . And he who deals with legal issues, do you know if Grassini has had problems only in Sardinia? «If he says so», he replies, «it is evident that he is so. I have no news of similar situations elsewhere".

THE SYNDICATE. The secretary of Filcams CGIL, Nella Milazzo, is concerned with the Cagliari news. Pay attention to the workers: «We are only interested in their fate and that of their place. To understand in detail what is happening to Ge.Ri Sardegna, and to defend their rights, we are waiting for the company to grant us a meeting», he said in recent days. And so far, no good signals from Milan.

© Riproduzione riservata