First of all, I would like to extend my greeting and my thanks to the President of the Republic. In rereading his messages, in particular on the occasion of May 1st, I found the constant call to work as a founding element of our Republic.
And it is precisely in difficult moments, such as the one we are going through, that we must seek in the Constitution and its strength the points of reference from which to start again and on which to rebuild. And work, referred to in 23 paragraphs, is punctuated by our Charter, which speaks of: “dignity”, “security”, “freedom”, “right to work”, “professional training”, “proportionate and sufficient remuneration”, “Right to rest and holidays”, “right to the maximum duration of the working day”, “job stability”, “social inclusion”, “equal rights and pay for men and women for equal work”, “protection of the disabled »,« Protection against involuntary unemployment, accident, illness, invalidity and old age »,« trade union and collective bargaining freedom »,« right to strike »and others. All this is not opposed but integrated with the “freedom of private economic initiative”.
It is in this web of social and economic relations and relations that the Republic acts, which with article 3 sets itself the task of removing the obstacles and impediments that actually limit the freedom and equality of citizens.
It is a task that we must have marked in our minds and hearts as we risk increasing distances and as poverty assails millions of families affected by the crisis.
Even today our Constitution shows us the way: to protect our citizens, ensure treatment and vaccines but at the same time prepare for reconstruction by leveraging the workers of our country.
Because when work is lacking or is unfair or unworthy, democracy is weaker and more exposed; prey to distrust and social anger; and social anger can produce monsters. In the conclusion of his lecture “Eternal Fascism”, Umberto Eco recalled a significant phrase of Roosevelt from 1938: “I dare to say that if American democracy ceased to progress as a living force, seeking day and night by peaceful means, to improve the conditions of our citizens, the strength of fascism will grow in our country ”. These words are echoed in those of those who today lead a friendly country like the United States. Because they indicate exactly the heart of any democratic pact. And the fundamental tool to make this happen is work.
Our and our constituents understood this. Amintore Fanfani, to explain the reasons for the first Article, which will eventually be voted by a very large majority, said in the Assembly: “’Italy is a democratic Republic, founded on work. In this formulation the expression ‘democratic’ indicates the traditional characteristics, the foundations of freedom and equality without which there is no democracy. But in this same expression the diction founded on work means to indicate the new character that the Italian state, as we have imagined it, should assume. By saying that the Republic is founded on work, it is excluded that it can be founded on privilege, on hereditary nobility, on the toil of others and it is instead affirmed that it is based on the duty, which is also the right for every man at the same time, to free effort its capacity to be and to contribute to the good of the national community. So, no pure exaltation of fatigue […]. The expression founded on work therefore marks the commitment, the theme of our entire Constitution. “
With that same spirit, on this 1st of May, on this ancient celebration almost like the Unification of Italy, we must remember those who fought to defend their work and those who were at the front in the hardest months of the crisis, starting with the operators. and by healthcare professionals.
Now our maximum effort must be concentrated on those who have lost their jobs or are at risk of losing it, on those who have had to stop their business due to the health crisis but also on those who are subjected to conditions of exploitation, illegal hiring and lack of protection. adequate.
There is still an unacceptable number of victims at work. Hence our commitment to adopt a national action plan to strengthen the fight against undeclared and irregular work. Commitment that has been made in the reforms of the National Reconstruction and Resilience Plan. Just as we are committed to guaranteeing vaccinations in the workplace: with the Protocol of 6 April we have achieved an important result, which will be able to make millions of male and female workers safe.
This effort must be made in the pandemic and post-pandemic climate, due to the socio-economic consequences it has determined and determines. First of all, the reforms and resources that we have drawn up in the Recovery plan sent to Brussels must respond to this. A plan that does not want and must not simply serve to plug a flaw, leaving the system unchanged. On the contrary, it must be the start of a project for a new Italy in a new Europe, one that faces those changes that have been repeatedly postponed.
On the other hand, the ecological and digital transition both require a transformation of public policies, to prevent their effect from being discharged on the weakest social groups.
In order for these to become an opportunity, we must act, on our behalf, on two fronts, on which the action of these first months is focusing: the reform of social safety nets on the one hand and the strengthening of training tools and active policies of the work on the other. On these fronts the confrontation with the social partners has been open, it is proceeding and must be an opportunity to overcome delays and particularities.
The trend in the loss of jobs in recent months has indicated that, despite strong heterogeneity, there are imbalances between the north and south of the country and that young people and women are the most penalized. Italy must respond to this transition as it did in the mid-1970s with targeted legislation, making every effort to avoid losing a generation.
For this reason, I consider the choice made by our country of conditionality for the realization of the projects contained in the NRP to be of great importance, the recruitment of women and young people.
This is also why it is urgent to strengthen social infrastructure. Starting with an extraordinary plan to strengthen employment centers. But that’s not enough: we need to be more ambitious, for example by setting “proximity standards” and improving integration with the network of local services.
In short, it is essential to acquire an integrated vision that facilitates occupational transitions, improving employability. For this we are working on a program called Guarantee of Employability of Workers, as well as on the Pact for Work and on a national strategy for youth employment.
It must be understood that the digitalization of processes also requires rethinking the regulation of employment relationships. The marked tendency towards flexibility has mostly resulted in a state of insecurity and loosening of safeguards. The work mediated by platforms and algorithms, to mention one of the fronts that sees us most active, has seen the number of interested people more than double in the last year. We cannot let this phenomenon be addressed only by the market. There is a need for regulatory intervention to help negotiation between the social partners to defend jobs.
Obviously the nature of the challenges we face is global in scope. For this there is a need for Europe, as long as it is lived as a common home that holds together an increasingly supportive community.
The normative sources of the Union and the Constitutions of the other individual countries also attribute a central value to the protection of male and female workers. Also from here, from our roots, came the push to rethink the nature of our community with Next Generation EU. Now the challenge is to make good use of resources for this new Europe to succeed, which has given a profoundly different response from that given to previous crises. Only in this way will we be stronger in asking in the future that the mutualist and solidarity choice made become structural and finally constitute the European social pillar that has been invoked for a long time.
With this in mind we are working together with European Commissioner Nicolas Schmit at the Social Summit to be held in Porto on May 7th.
In short, we are in a historical phase that has many unknowns and pitfalls but which is also full of unprecedented opportunities. The need for reconstruction in the general interest of Italians, to allow the country to restart, requires a large convergence of forces, the capacity for mediation and mutual recognition.
Precisely these were the foundations that led the great cultural and political traditions of liberated Italy to give life to a Charter capable of expressing all its ideal strength even today. The crossroads where these cultures met was precisely work. And only from work, from its centrality, from the ability to put technological innovations at the service of people, can a democratic regeneration able to exorcise the ghosts of the past and overcome the challenges of the present grow.
In concrete terms, this battle can be won if the labor and business forces are an active part of a new season. If the workers will be enabled to participate in the great choices that will define their destiny.
If democracy and work, as our Charter shows us, are linked by an inseparable link, economic democracy is the ideal feature that unites them.
Happy 1st of May to all.
* Minister of Labor and Social Policies