Palermo, Covid-affected precarious workers protest in front of the Health Department: “We demand recognition for the work we have done”.

Last Updated: July 25, 2023

Palermo, precari Covid davanti all'assessorato alla Salute: «Rivendichiamo il lavoro svolto»

#Palermo
The scorching heat in Palermo does not stop the protests of Sicilian Covid temporary workers in the IT and administrative sectors. The workers gathered this morning in front of the regional health department in Piazza Ottavio Ziino in Palermo for a protest sit-in. The regional branch of Cgil, the Cgil Public Function, Nidil, and the Covid-19 Emergency Professionals Committee in Sicily are requesting a meeting with the regional assessor and an audience in the VI commission of the Regional Assembly. “The stabilization of Covid temporary workers is a matter of social justice,” wrote the Secretary General of Cgil Sicily, Alfio Mannino in a statement. “It is also a measure to fill the unsustainable staff shortages in the regional healthcare system and make it functional. Enough with the delays, tactics, and wasting time, we demand a serious and structured discussion with the government to outline a certain path for temporary workers and in general to intervene in the collapse of healthcare.”

The unions are urgently requesting an extraordinary hiring and strengthening plan for the administrative machinery to revive the system and take advantage of the opportunities offered by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Pnrr) regarding digitalization and telemedicine. The rights of workers who have worked during the pandemic must be guaranteed, as well as the right to health,” Mannino continued. “These two aspects go hand in hand, as healthcare cannot function without personnel. The social forces and political forces must focus their initiative on the revival of public healthcare and the fight against precariousness, on which nothing has been done so far.”

“The staff is demanding recognition for their work during the pandemic,” explains an administrative temporary worker, “which has not been valued by the agreement protocol signed by some unions. The protocol, instead of valuing the work carried out at the relevant Local Health Authority (Asp), also facilitates personnel who have passed external competitions. Therefore, inevitably,” the worker continues, “the co.c.co. personnel, who played a leading role in the fight against Covid, are forgotten and used to allow personnel not involved in the fight against Covid to access positions. There are numerous inconveniences caused to citizens due to the lack of administrative and IT personnel: waiting lists, extended waiting times, doctor changes, prescription requests, and exemptions. However,” the worker concludes, “despite the difficult situation created by the non-renewal of this personnel, Sicilian politics insists on not finding a concrete solution.”