First of May

Meloni: over 1 million jobs created. Schlein: premier lies. Landini: mobilisation without government answers

Day of mobilisation of trade unions, dedicated to occupational health and safety issues. Three united demonstrations, in three symbolic places, in Rome with Maurizio Landini (CGIL), in Casteldaccia (Pa) with Daniela Fumarola (CISL) and in Montemurlo (Po) with PierPaolo Bombardieri (UIL)

by Redazione Roma

1 May 2025

Maurizio Landini ed Elly Schlein durante la manifestazione organizzata da Cgil, Cisl e Uil in occasione della Festa del lavoro, Roma, Mercoledì 01 Maggio 2025 (Foto Roberto Monaldo / LaPresse)

5' min read

Key points

Meloni: over 1 million jobs created
Calderone: aim is to extend the credit licence
Conte: in referendum four yeses for jobs
Schlein in Rome square, embracing Landini
Landini: without answers from the government ready to mobilise
Fumarola: CISL platform on safety
Bombardieri (Uil) in Montemurlo
The Concert in Piazza San Giovanni

5' min read

Cgil, Cisl and Uil May Day demonstrations kick off. Accompanying the day this year is the slogan 'United for safe work'. A day of mobilisation, dedicated to the themes of health and safety at work, which sees three united squares, in three symbolic places, from which the three general secretaries will speak in the morning: Maurizio Landini at the Imperial Forum in Rome, Daniela Fumarola in Casteldaccia (Palermo), Pierpaolo Bombardieri in Montemurlo (Prato).

Meloni: over 1 million jobs created

On the occasion of Labour Day, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also made herself heard with a message on X. "Work is one of the pillars on which this government has based its action. In two and a half years, more than one million jobs have been created and the total number of employed has reached an all-time high: more than 24.3 million. Female employment also reached an all-time high. Unemployment is at its lowest for 18 years. A concrete commitment that also continues on the safety front, with new resources, more controls, incentives and a strong push on prevention and training. There is still much to be done, but the direction is clear'.

Calderone: aim is to extend the credit licence

Our objective is to also respond to the request of the social partners and to extend the credit licence to other sectors', in addition to construction, 'I believe it is important, implementing it also with the further qualification phase for companies'. Thus the Minister of Labour and Social Policies, Marina Calderone, host of Sky Tg24, recalling that 470,000 licences have been issued so far in the construction sector. 'Over these two and a half years we have made important decrees to intensify action and increase the number of inspectors,' she stressed.

Conte: in the referendum four yeses for work

"Workers without protection, precariousness, a boom in CIG, 9% of the employed in poverty", "four out of ten young people earning less than nine euros per hour", "three workers a day who leave home in the morning and do not return in the evening because they die. This is not the Republic founded on work that our Constitution tells us', 'let's say enough'. Thus instead M5s leader Giuseppe Conte on Fb. "At the referendum on 8 and 9 June the M5s will say yes four times," it is "a first opportunity to begin to regain the rights and protections taken away from workers by wrong choices and laws, starting with the Jobs act," he adds.

Schlein in Rome square, embrace with Landini

The secretary of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein, took part in the May Day demonstration in Rome and reached the head of the procession, heading for Via dei Fori Imperiali, where the general secretary of the CGIL, Maurizio Landini, was present. The two greeted each other with an embrace. Schlein and Landini marched in front of the banner 'For stable, secure, protected and dignified work. 8 and 9 June you vote yes'.

"Happy 1 May to all the workers who hold this country together, the PD is at their side. We have a lot to do to improve the material conditions of those who work. We need a minimum wage law: the majority wanted to block it. Meloni has turned her back on 3.5 million working poor. She keeps lying through her teeth about the numbers. She says there is no wage problem in Italy and instead Istat has confirmed it: wages are 8% lower than in 2021,' said Pd secretary Elly Schlein in the piazza

Landini: without answers from the government ready to mobilise

"If there are no adequate answers from the government, I believe we must open a phase of mobilisation and support for the unitary platform for safety at work". This was said by the general secretary of the CGIL, Maurizio Landini, concluding from the stage at the Fori Imperiali in Rome the May Day demonstration, ahead of the meeting on 8 May, which he hopes will be "of real negotiation". "We must use all democratic tools, including that of the vote. A conquered right to go and vote,' Landini added, referring to the referendums on 8 and 9 June on labour and citizenship, among which there is also a question on security.

Fumarola: Cisl platform on safety

"Training for workers and companies, incentives for companies that invest in safety, more inspectors because those that are there even if they have been increased are still not enough, credit licences extended to other sectors, health surveillance because safety is not just deaths at work but we must ensure that people do not fall ill in the workplace and are not attacked. The workplace must be the healthiest place for men and women who want to realise their life goals through work'. This is the platform of the Cisl that leader Daniela Fumarola explained to reporters on the sidelines of the May Day demonstration in Casteldaccia (Palermo) on safety in the workplace in view of the 8 May meeting convened by Prime Minister Meloni. In Casteldaccia on 6 May last year five workers died while working on the sewage network.

'We are here in the square in Casteldaccia to shout never again, never again deaths at work. There is an absolute need for a national strategy to be put in place, we appreciated the call of Prime Minister Meloni for 8 May and we appreciated the announcement to put in place a great alliance between social partners and government. We think this is the right way, joining forces towards shared goals, first and foremost a powerful investment in training,' Fumarola added.

Bombardieri (Uil) in Montemurlo

Uil leader, Pierpaolo Bombardieri, holds his rally in Montemurlo, in the province of Prato: it is a choice to remember Luana D'Orazio, who died on 3 May 2021 at the age of 22, crushed by a machine in a textile company: 'We have chosen Montemurlo to remember the very young Luana, who lost her life here because safety devices were tampered with on the machinery on which she was working. A drama, that of deaths at work, also for those left behind, for the families, for the communities that experience these tragedies. People who are often left alone. That is why we must continue this battle for life and dignity and it is from Montemurlo, together with Emma, Luana's mother, who is here with us, that we want to launch our May Day message,' Bombardieri said.

The Concertone in Piazza San Giovanni

The First of May of CGIL, CISL and UIL continues in the afternoon in Rome, where the traditional appointment with the big concert returns to the historical venue of Piazza San Giovanni, completely renovated: for the works, last year the concert had exceptionally moved to the Circus Maximus. Around fifty artists will be on stage for a marathon of over 10 hours of music and reflection, with the theme of safety at work still in the foreground.