“Warehouse with excrement and gaps on the safety front. The company listened to us”

An important agreement, reached by CISL with the San Germano company of the Iren group, “which radically changes the cards on the table and brings health and safety for the 102 employees and for the fleet of 75 vehicles used for waste collection”. A story “of change built by the union in Reggio in favor of a great public service such as waste collection, of workers and therefore of citizens”. This is explained by Gaetano Capozza, secretary of the Fit Cisl of Reggio, who presents the agreement just reached “with a path that is neither easy nor obvious”. For months the union “carried out inspections, even at 3 in the morning, in the San Germano warehouse, spoke with the workers and collected their reports and stories, building a powerful dossier”. They started, explains Capozza, “from serious problems with the maintenance of waste separation vehicles in Reggio and its province: sensors that didn’t work, lack of fire extinguishers, problems with the sealing of the hinges on some doors. We found disorder in the management of traffic documents and a warehouse infested with pigeon guano. An inadequate situation which was accompanied by the need for interventions for the management of holiday work and allowances. Fit Cisl, involving its FP Cgil colleagues, explained to the company that change was necessary.” With responsibility, San Germano sat at the table, listened to the voice of the workers and shared important commitments and investments. Now the verification of commitments will be rigorous. News that is good for those who work and is good for Reggio, a city where in another essential public service there is a company like Seta that is doing the opposite: it doesn’t respond, it doesn’t change, it considers us as nuisances and ends up losing drivers. Seta managers come here to take notes”. Francesco Palma, Fit-Cisl coordinator of the environmental hygiene contractual area in the Piacenza, Parma and Reggio area, is one of the protagonists of the agreement. He says proudly: “By the end of the year the entire fleet of vehicles will be subject to maintenance. By the same date the company will activate a selection process to search for a workshop employee to provide greater support to the structure – explains Palma –. Now there are the conditions to quickly intervene on the check list reported by employees. With their participation we will allow the vehicles to always be safe and operational”. All staff are now equipped with cabin hygiene kits, training is increased. Cleaning and sanitization activities have also begun in the warehouse, with the removal of excrement of pigeons and the removal of birds. “Personnel with a B license who are available to drive vehicles with tanks in case of need will have the higher level, as required by national contracts. The company has undertaken to share with the union to enhance the Sunday commitment. Economic incentives are foreseen for staff who will reach their workplace by bike by asking the Company to join the regional ‘Bike To Work’ project”.