"We are here to forcefully express a no to the logic of war . Faced with Israel's invasion of Palestine, we believe it is our duty to defend a people's right to exist: a massacre is taking place in Gaza that must be stopped. This conflict in the Middle East, like that in Ukraine and other parts of the world, is leading to a very dangerous rearmament: not only does it fuel violence and death, but it also diverts resources from real investments in healthcare, industrial policies, and jobs." With this lengthy introduction, Maurizio Landini presented the CGIL's dual initiative in Cagliari.
The secretary arrived at the Fairgrounds around 10:00 a.m. and from there confirmed his participation in the demonstration for Gaza, which departs at 2:00 p.m. for the Regional Council, where a CGIL delegation will be received by Governor Alessandra Todde and Assembly President Piero Comandini. Landini will be joined by the leaders of the Sardinian confederation, beginning with leader Fausto Durante , who opened the meeting at the Fairgrounds, which is preparatory to the union's second initiative, the strike on October 25th.
"We are ushering in a new era of social mobilization," Durante said. Both Landini and the Sardinian leader himself explained the content: "We are engaged in drafting a series of proposals to present to the government for inclusion in the new national budget law. It's not true that employment is growing in Italy: what's increasing is the employment of those over 50, a sign that people are not retiring in our country." Durante then asked the Todde government for specific commitments. Above all, " a change of pace is needed in healthcare : in Sardinia, the right to healthcare is no longer guaranteed."
Landini then touched on, among other things, the issue of consensus and abstentionism . "Giorgia Meloni is rising in the polls? I'm used to thinking about real data . Polls are very uncertain. It depends on who does them, when you do them, where you do them. And if I continue to look at the real data, what I see is that in our country, unfortunately, the majority is made up of people who don't vote. This means that there is a majority in the country that doesn't feel represented by anyone and is demanding to have a voice." He continued: "Today, the government received 12 million votes, while the opposition received 15 million altogether. And there are 18 million people who didn't vote. I find it serious that those who have a majority in Parliament but aren't the majority in this country are using this majority to change the Constitution, to change any right, and they think they can use this majority without discussing or engaging with anyone. There is the risk of an authoritarian turn, especially given that they are following Trump, and we are becoming a bit like a province of the empire without having our own policy."
And then the tax authorities: "If there's a record, it's the increase in taxes for employees and pensioners. This level of taxation for employees and pensioners is unmatched anywhere else in Europe." "With the current inflation levels, employees and pensioners have paid an additional €24 billion in personal income tax between 2022 and 2024," Landini stated. He added: "We demand that this money— a fiscal drain , because it increased the gross but not the net—be returned to employees and pensioners."