TRIESTE – TRIESTE – An important shipping agency based in the Port of Trieste has warned this morning its employees of the obligation of Green pass to access the workplace.
The letter was delivered today by Samer & co. Shipping (shareholder of Samer & Seaports Terminals) but the date to be taken into consideration is that of September 15, the day on which “… only workers with a green pass duly issued and certified by the Ministry of Health”. The reason given refers to the spread of the Delta variant of Covid 19. The provision does not concern workers employed on the quay but only office workers and employees of the typical operations of maritime agents.
The reaction of the trade unions was not long in coming. For Fit Cisl Fvg – which invites the health authority to take a clear position – the Government must decide the vaccination obligation and cannot be a pretext for firing. “We reject in content and method the communication that a terminal operator in Trieste sent to his employees, with which he imposes the green pass to access the company premises”.
“It seems to us – comments the general secretary of Fit Cisl Fvg, Antonio Pittelli – an absolutely arbitrary behaviour, given that the Government has not yet expressed itself on the obligation to have a green pass as a condition for accessing the workplace. Also because there is an ongoing discussion with the social partners on this issue, aimed at guaranteeing the health and safety of workers».
“We believe that this initiative is not supported by any law or directive issued by the competent bodies, therefore unacceptable in terms of time and substance”, write to Cgil, Cisl and Uil of Trieste in another note. “We, therefore, condemn this unilateral initiative, trusting in an intervention by the Port Authority – underline the trade unions – and we, therefore, distrust the Company to implement what is described in the note in question”.
The Clpt (Trieste Port Workers Coordination) is more direct, the acronym most represented within the Friuli Venezia Giulia harbour. “They are crazy” – reads a press release “there is no legal obligation to do so, and companies cannot invent laws as they please. And do not try to divide workers between those who have the Green pass and those who do not. We ask for urgent intervention by the Port Authority to set the record straight with all companies “.
“The goal is to prevent the workplace from becoming a place of potential spread of the contagion “explains the company in the letter, specifying that in the decision there is no intention to” limit individual freedoms but is instead aimed at protecting the people who work in the company, who – carrying out their activities in a shared with others – they have the right to feel safe and to know that no one can introduce a high risk of contagion into that common space”. “In this scenario – he concludes – the priority of the company remains the protection of the health of employees and their families”.