Italian
“Work, a social alliance generating hope” is the theme chosen by the Italian Bishops for the Message of the feast of workers celebrated today, May 1st.
“The Feast of Workers, in this Jubilee Year, aims to offer horizons of hope to men and women of our time, aware ‘that human work is a key, and probably the essential key, to the whole social question, if we try to see that question really from the point of view of man’s good’ (John Paul II, Laborem exercens, 3). The protection, defense, and commitment to the creation of free, creative, participatory, and solidarity-based work, constitute one of the tangible signs of hope for our brothers, as Pope Francis pointed out to us in the Bull of Indiction of the Jubilee Year (cf. Francis, Spes non confundit, 12),” write the Bishops in the Message.
Many issues were highlighted in the document: from the demographic crisis, to work organization (smart-working), migrations, precarious work, to safety in the workplace. Just yesterday morning, Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, leaving the congregation held in the Vatican, wished everyone a “happy May Day” and emphasized “let’s worry about work and deaths in the workplace”.
Errore nella risposta API: The server had an error while processing your request. Sorry about that!“A structural and fundamental effect is being exerted by the serious demographic crisis, for which in the coming years we will see the largest generation exiting the labor market, progressively replaced by a decreasing number of young people,” the Bishops remind.
Just as “at the same time, something paradoxical happens, which is the exploitation of immigrant brothers, forgetting that their presence can be a reason for hope for our economy, but only if they are integrated according to parameters of justice.”
There is also what is now called a mismatch, “namely the misalignment between supply and demand.” It is indeed noted that, at the same time, there is the “phenomenon of vacant jobs, which do not find personnel with the necessary skills, and young unemployed people who do not have the appropriate requirements.”
Remain in the background, but no less important, is “the harsh ‘law of gravity’ of global competition for which companies seek to locate where costs (including labor costs) are lower. And this fuels a downward spiral on cost and dignity of work.”
Statistical surveys show a sharp decline in unemployment, but “behind formally employed individuals there is poor work.” Finally, it is necessary to consider the situation of women, “who in some areas are penalized not only with lower pay, but also with a lack of guarantees during pregnancy and maternity leave.” The bishops also emphasize in another passage of the document the issue of safety in the workplace: “there will be no full justice without safety at work, the lack of which still claims many victims. To give hope, these trends must be reversed: it will be one of the most significant signs of the Jubilee.”
Errore nella risposta API: The server had an error while processing your request. Sorry about that!The Policoro Project is a sign of hope: “in recent years, young community leaders have worked in the path of integral ecology, which looks at sustainability and the interdependence between the social dimension and the ecosystem. Significant results and enterprises capable of staying in the market and promoting decent work have emerged from the Policoro Project, even in the most disadvantaged areas of the country.”
Last but not least, the reference to the responsibility of all and to the value of corporate social responsibility. “The economy and market laws must not pass over our heads leaving us powerless. We are the market: both when we are entrepreneurs and workers, and when we promote and live a critical consumption. Corporate social responsibility is now an increasingly consolidated trend also thanks to regulatory interventions that impose on companies a social balance sheet and distance themselves from cunning behaviors aimed only at speculation. Believers and all citizens of good will are called in this favorable context to encourage companies to compete with each other even on the dignity of work and to use information on their behaviors as a criterion for consumption and savings choices.” This is the conclusion of the bishops’ message for the first of May.
Photo by StockSnap from Pixabay
