Trade unions: ‘The City of Milan must protect workers from the heat’
Whilst awaiting a measure that has stalled at Palazzo Marino, the CGIL, CISL and UIL are calling for the most vulnerable groups to be protected
Whilst the Milan City Council is finalising a by-law to protect workers from the heat, the trade unions are stepping up the pressure.
“We urgently call on Milan City Council to take action to protect all workers exposed to extreme heat. This is a step that the Lombardy Regional Government has failed to take, and one that is right to take.” This statement comes from CGIL, CISL and UIL Milan, which have been waiting for days for a measure extending protections to delivery riders, urban logistics workers and local service providers – categories excluded from the regional order. The municipal order seemed set to be issued at any moment in recent days but then got held up in the offices at Palazzo Marino.
The trade unions’ main concerns centre on delivery riders, who are clearly more at risk and have no means of protection. They are calling for a suspension of deliveries without any penalties; a reduction in the speed of the algorithms during high-risk hours; a review of incentives linked to delivery speed; and the local council to designate shaded public spaces where riders can stop, rest, cool down and access water during periods of extreme heat. ‘These are demands we have been making for some time: safety comes before delivery speed.’
According to CGIL, CISL and UIL Milan, we must move away from stopgap measures to address what has now become a structural problem. “Every summer we say the same thing. We cannot have measures that invariably expire in September only to be rewritten the following year: we need permanent national regulations covering all categories of workers exposed to sunstroke, high temperatures or a workplace microclimate that is proving increasingly harmful to human health. We need to strengthen prevention, investment in the energy transition, health and safety at work, and inspections. It is increasingly necessary to reorganise work and production processes in light of high temperatures.”
Whilst the hope is for a national law, the trade unions say that, in the meantime, the local council should at least take action in the coming days.
