Dramatic staff shortages compounded by a lack of recruitment to offset retirements, fixed salaries and a lack of concern for the working conditions of police officers. Among which, tragically, the phenomenon of suicide broke out. For these reasons, the Silp-Cgil police union has called for a national mobilization of agents who, next Tuesday, July 12, will meet in front of the prefectures (in Florence and Pisa in Tuscany with the presence of a Leghorn delegation) to express their discomfort at a “state of general neglect of the security sector”. Giovanni Chirico, Provincial Secretary of Silp-Cgil Livorno explains it, underlining “the dramatic shortage of police officers, the salaries fixed in 2021 (for managers, the first contract since 2017 has never been signed), the lack of attention to working conditions and to organizational well-being. being male and female police officers, while at the same time the phenomenon of suicide explodes: 28 cases, to date, among all those in uniform only since the beginning of the year”.
Chirico (Silp-Cgil): “The lack of resources and hiring affects people’s safety. We are fed up with gossip”
“In Tuscany – explains Chirico – garrisons will be implemented in front of the prefectures of Florence and Pisa. Similar initiatives will be carried out at the same time throughout Italy because the protest is national. Precisely through whoever represents the government in the area, it is say the prefecture, we intend to send a strong message in the Chigi Palace because we are fed up with the chatter. We will make a flyer to try to explain to the citizens that our problems – the lack of resources and recruitment – directly affect the security of people and daily life”.
“The promised extraordinary contracts are a mirage -continues the exponent of the police union- and with a total shortage of labor of 10,000 units, thanks to the conjunction with the retirements that will exceed the new arrivals, the State Police will have more and more fewer operators in the coming years. A problem that also worries the carabinieri and the other forces of order. To all this is added the expired contract and unpaid overtime, the issue of pensions and supplementary / dedicated welfare that is ignored so that the police, already poorly paid today, will be the new poor retirees, the issue of work organization and psychophysical well-being that are completely ignored by those with political and government responsibilities”.
“The only handout given to the police since this very month of July – Chirico concludes – is a single accessory fee for 2023, which should compensate for the lost contract. We are talking about 24 gross euros per month for an agent. Not even half a coffee for day. With inflation hovering around 8 percent, it is a shame and an offense for the entire category. July 12 is only the first stage of a long mobilization process if we do not register a concrete trend change in the management of the security policies of this country”.
