Caserta general strike of metalworkers, De Palma: "Defend work and industry in the South"

Caserta.

The procession, promoted by the metalworkers' organizations, wound through the streets of the city to end in Piazza Dante, where the general secretary of Fiom-Cgil Michele spoke. From Palma.

“Today Caserta is proving to be the capital of dignity in the South, the capital of people who have to work to live,” De Palma said. “We are here to defend work and industry, to say that the South needs concrete investments in schools, universities, health and work.”

The Jabil and Softlab disputes

At the center of the mobilization are the disputes of Jabil and Softlab, two companies in the electronics sector that are announcing redundancies and closures. “In an area like Caserta, already hit hard by the crisis, we cannot afford to lose more jobs,” De Palma emphasized. “We must put the automotive and electronics sectors, which are in great difficulty, back at the center.”

An appeal to the Government and the Region

De Palma has launched an appeal to the Government and the Campania Region to intervene to prevent the closure of the factories Jabil and Softlab. “We ask for urgent action to save jobs and industry in this area,” he said. “Workers cannot be left alone, institutions cannot stand by and watch.”

Commitment to a national initiative

“Caserta’s struggle is not isolated,” De Palma continued. “Throughout Southern Italy there is a risk of industrial desertification. We must build a united national initiative to claim the right to industrial work in the South, because work is the only true antidote to crime.”

“We will deploy, together with Fim and Uilm, all the democratic tools necessary to support the fight for the dignity and work of metalworkers in the South,” concluded De Palma. “We are fighting for work, legality, wages and dignity.”