Venice, August 28, 2020. Dockworkers employed in the cruise industry and its related economy gathered today in a demonstration against the lack of restart of cruise activities in Venice, to the detriment of thousands of families and jeopardizing their future.
For them, cruise ships are an essential sector in the region's economy. Venice is not just a port of call, but a embarkation point, which implies a complex and extensive supply chain whose value has been estimated at over 400 million euros. In a press release, the workers complain that a port like Venice, considered one of the best in the Mediterranean and the world, has been completely ignored by politicians who, since 2012, “have exclusively followed the endless media campaign supported by more or less famous sponsors, who are unaware of the reality of our work and ignore the economic and social value of the port in the region. Even worse, none of these 'celebrities' have ever set foot in our port to see how we are organized, nor do they know our professional skills (which are widely recognized by the market and for which we are a benchmark), and they don't know how many people have jobs when a ship arrives or departs.”
“Now is not the time to be unable to choose: we want to start now, and we demand solutions now,” they declare emphatically.
These workers, directly employed in the cruise port and its related economy, gathered today “to loudly demand that they be considered citizens with the same rights as those who disagree with the presence of cruise ships in Venice, that they be recognized as citizens who live, work, pay taxes, and vote in Venice, and to demand that their positions be heard and respected. They are citizens who do not want to live on charity but want decent work.”
They believe that “more than ever, after the COVID-19 emergency, there seems to be a desire to reduce the city to an open-air museum or, worse, a ghost town. We firmly believe that employment and environmental protection, in which we ourselves live, can and must coexist not as opposing forces, but with a reasonable balance that can only be achieved through dialogue, technology, and the ability to look forward to the future enthusiastically and courageously, and to choose the benefit of all and not just a few, respecting the city, its environment, and employment.”
And they bitterly complain that “although the recent Ministerial Decree now allows the cruise sector to resume its activities, Venice has not been included among the ports considered by cruise companies due to prolonged political indecision and, even more so, the deafening silence of the institutions, which has thus dealt the final blow to all those workers who have been unable to work since November, first due to the exceptionally high tides and then due to the lockdown. For many of these workers, the social benefits initially granted are running out, and soon they will be left without any benefits at all.”
In their final statement they claim that it is time to decide, fully respecting the city and its environment, but also respecting employment: in fact, Venice is a city that has changed over the years, but has always been an inclusive and welcoming city.
