Can't find workers in the tourism and tertiary sectors (such as shop assistants)? Pay them better and make them work in better conditions: this is the response of the general secretary of UilTucs Sardinia, Cristiano Ardau, to the seasonal controversy on the offer of positions and the lack of subjects ready to fill them in view of the summer.

According to the monthly report by Infocamere, based on the requests that the companies themselves make to local employment centers, the contracts ready to be signed in Sardinia by June would be over 46 thousand, about 1,600 more than last year: the majority, precisely in the tourism sector (but there are also business services, logistics, manufacturing and road transport). But 46% of the searches for workers are in vain.

The reason, according to Ardau, is simple: "The so-called army of the unfindable deserves better working conditions, both in the quality of work and in salary recognition," he says. The union representative argues that "limiting the debate to the lack of availability is reductive and offensive towards workers in the sector. We have been denouncing the failure of the contractual system for months and are asking for salary adjustments and recognition of professionalism."

According to UilTucs data, in Sardinia over the last 12 years wages have grown less than half compared to the European average, with a 15% loss of tertiary sector wages compared to inflation, despite a 6% increase in productivity.

The Island is at the bottom of the list in Italy for wage trends, a situation that is also reflected in the tertiary sector. "For some jobs, the mismatch reaches 75%, while in sectors with higher wages and lighter workloads it drops to 40%; waiters, cooks and bar staff earn 1100/1200 euros a month, compared to 1500/1600 in other sectors", Ardau specifies.

It is understandable "that many refuse anachronistic offers tied only to fixed-term contracts and low wages, when elsewhere there are permanent contracts and better conditions. Employers' associations must take responsibility for starting a serious reflection and deciding with the trade unions on a radical change of pace, to allow workers in the sector to obtain adequate and dignified conditions".