World Federation of Trade Unions
The Draghi government has decided that we must “learn” to live with Covid. The indiscriminate reopening of all production activities has in fact put the virus back into circulation in an overbearing way, with the complicity of companies that have lowered the threshold of protection and prevention measures. Choosing to put in first place the GDP rather than the health of the population, returns the alarm of a new collapse of the national health system, with the saturation of hospitals and sick people of all kinds left without care and assistance. In the budget maneuver, most of the funding is diverted to support businesses and workers are left without economic support tools. No funding for emergency income or for the Covid redundancy fund, while hundreds of companies (especially in crisis sectors) threaten mass layoffs. No support for “fragile” workers or those who are quarantined in case of close contact with a positive. In addition to the pandemic crisis, there has also been a resounding increase in the prices of raw materials and energy products, with heavy repercussions on utility bills and basic necessities, and with the inevitable effect of further increasing disparity and inequality, especially for the weakest sectors of the population. After almost two years of health emergency and faced with continuous evolution of the virus and an increasing number of infections, it is even more urgent that: – Essential health personnel be hired to ensure continuity of service and relieve those who are subjected to grueling shifts; – The creation of healthcare facilities and intensive therapies capable of eliminating the risk of running out of available places or having to reduce assistance for other pathologies; – Hiring of personnel in the school system and the creation of all those facilities necessary to reduce crowding and ensure the continuation of teaching in attendance but in safe conditions; – To strengthen urban and interregional public transport, increasing the number of vehicles in circulation, to prevent the achievement of maximum capacity; – Distribute free Ffp2 masks and encourage free plugging for all workers and students of all grades; – We return to finance both the extraordinary redundancy fund for the affected sectors and the emergency income as well as refreshments for activities forced to periods of suspension or slowdown (tourism, catering, sports and cultural activities, etc.); – We return to finance the quarantine and the equalization of illness for fragile workers who can not operate in smart working, thus averting the risk of being forced not to report contact with “positive”, just not to lose part of the salary. The vaccination of a large part of the population has unfortunately already proved to be an insufficient measure to protect us from the unpredictable evolutions of the virus, also in view of the fact that most of the world’s population has not yet been vaccinated, nor will they be for a long time yet. Instead of continuing to favor the profits of big pharmaceutical companies, it is time to eliminate patents on vaccines. USB calls for Friday, January 28 – coinciding with the strike of public health – a day of national mobilization throughout Italy The health of citizens comes before the economic interests of companies and banks At work, at school, in hospitals, on public transport THE RIGHT TO HEALTH AND SAFETY USB
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USB: Public Health Strike and National Mobilization Day Friday, January 28 to fight the Covid and get out of the economic crisis