Moments of fear yesterday afternoon at the port of Gioia Tauro, where a crane used to move containers overturned during operations in the terminal square. Driving the vehicle was a young forklift driver from Gioia, CA, who, by a pure miracle, was only injured. He was transported to Polistena hospital for CT scan and other tests. The images circulated in the following hours show the vehicle overturned on its side and tell better than any words how close the tragedy was. The investigations are ongoing and at the moment no hypotheses are excluded: from a possible distraction to a risky manoeuvre, up to high speed or operational stress conditions which could have influenced the dynamics of the accident.
A very serious episode that puts the spotlight back on the topic of safety within the Gioia airport. The reaction of the trade unions was immediate. The territorial secretariats of Filt Cgil, Fit Cisl, Uiltrasporti, Ugl and Sul have sent a note to the president of the Port System Authority Paolo Piacenza, and to the management of the container terminal operator Mct, requesting the urgent convening of the cooling procedure pursuant to art. 49 of the National Collective Agreement for Ports. We ask for “the immediate activation of all procedures aimed at safeguarding the safety of port operators”. At the same time, the unions are asking for the suspension of remote monitoring systems and calls to staff related to productivity, considered possible factors of pressure on the yard operators. And they warn that, should any “forces” emerge in normal operating conditions or recalls to staff such as to generate work stress, an immediate strike will be called without notice