With a total of 1,380 units, half of the thousand in service are partially or totally unsuitable for firefighting.
We're talking about 500 forest rangers with an average age of over sixty. "The lack of generational change has led to a dramatic situation," protested Ignazio Masala of Safor and Carmelo Prestileo of Uil Fpl, secretaries of the unions who organized the demonstration today outside the Regional Council building to demand "a concrete and no longer postponable political response to the critical issues that have long plagued the Forestry and Environmental Protection Corps."
Around a hundred employees are present at the sit-in, which is taking place during the height of the fire-fighting campaign. However, the unions assure us, there is no risk to the service, which is being guaranteed, also because "a percentage of the staff is still called up."
The unions acknowledge that the hiring process for 96 new agents has been completed. But, again, they say, "we have been ignored. The Region had promised it would hold competitions until it reached 600 suitable candidates, but instead it stopped at 480." The union representatives will now be heard by the Council group leaders.