ROME – “The country needs social cohesion, not sterile conflict. This is not the time when we can be satisfied with being against”. In Piazza Santi Apostoli in Rome, for the demonstration “For development, work, cohesion. Responsibility in the square”, the leader of the CISL Luigi Sbarra admits that with CGIL and UIL “the rupture is profound” after the strike general two days ago, however “the objectives that we set ourselves in the platforms and in the proposals remain. However, there is much, much clarity to be done on the contents, on the merit of trade union action and also on the profile of which union serves in this phase”. “We believe that a trade union model anchored to the principles of responsibility, social cohesion and participation must prevail”, Sbarra underlines.
However, this morning’s demonstration, explains Sbarra, not only aims to differentiate the position of the CISL but to send “a strong signal to the country, the government, the employers’ associations, to strengthen the confrontation, with a view to building together the restart and the growth of the country “. Also in view of the next objectives to be tackled together, starting with the call for next Monday for the table on pension reform: “Pensions cannot be considered only an economic cost, there is also an issue of social sustainability. We must stop with the rhetoric of those who argue that pensions are a luxury, a privilege or a gift. Social security is a fundamental right in the life of workers after an intense work activity “, says Sbarra.
“We need to work on a reform process of the Fornero law that introduces flexibility in leaving from the age of 62. Also establishing that 41 years of contributions are enough to enjoy the sacrosanct right to a pension”, continues Sbarra, recalling that
among the priorities there is also that of “a guarantee pension for young people trapped by being in pure contributions and having precarious, discontinuous careers that condemn them to a third age of uncertainty and poverty. We need to build solutions for women” recognizing “one year of extra contributions for each child. We must make the social Ape structural by extending it to other strenuous and burdensome jobs. We must encourage adherence to supplementary pensions and widen the perimeter of the fourteenth for pensioners”.
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