Naples – A year after Gesco social workers protested the layoffs of three hundred employees, the group's founder and president, Sergio D'Angelo, has been indicted. According to D'Angelo himself, he is accused of "promoting public meetings to demand the safeguarding of employment levels" for workers involved in the dispute with the Naples Central Health Authority (ASL Napoli 1 Centro).
The events date back to the period when the early termination of the contract between Gesco and the healthcare company led to the loss of jobs for hundreds of workers providing care to the elderly, disabled, and mentally vulnerable. D'Angelo, then as now a Naples city councilor, took to the streets alongside the employees.
"Translated," he wrote on his Facebook profile, "I demonstrated alongside those who had lost their jobs. My fault would be for taking a stand, for taking to the streets when three hundred people were left without income. I did it then, I would do it again tomorrow." Then the political dig: "It's happening right now, four weeks before the election. A coincidence I'm having a hard time accepting peacefully."
D'Angelo is in fact a candidate in the regional elections in Campania with the Green Left Alliance, in the coalition supporting Roberto Fico.
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The entire group of social enterprises expressed solidarity with the founder of Gesco. "We all demonstrated peacefully," said President Giacomo Smarrazzo, "and it's unacceptable to accuse Sergio D'Angelo as if he were the ringleader of a riot. He was simply the spokesperson for a dispute we believe is just."
According to Gesco, the demonstrations were conducted "in a civilized manner, without any harm to the city or its residents," and were attended by hundreds of workers and residents. "We were simply asking," Smarrazzo recalled, "that the ASL Napoli 1 Centro step back and reverse the decision to terminate the contract, which has deprived hundreds of families of jobs and reduced services for vulnerable individuals."
Gesco's position remains clear: "Whoever points the finger at D'Angelo today," Smarrazzo concludes, "is pointing it at our entire world. The battles for welfare and employment cannot be exploited. The right to work cannot become a legal issue, especially just weeks before the regional elections."
Comments (1)
This article is very complex and difficult to understand. It seems to me that there are many issues at stake, but I'm not sure what's really going on. The employment situation seems serious, but there are so many differing opinions.