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“It was us”: the Belgian union Fgtb-Charleroi claims to have promoted the protest initiative during the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the Marcinelle tragedy. Some of their members, they explain on social media, turned their backs on the stage, at the moment in which the President of the Senate Ignazio La Russa was reading the message from the Head of State Sergio Mattarella.
«Italy», writes the Belgian union, «is also represented by Ignazio La Russa, president of the Senate and second highest office in the country. Co-founder of Fratelli d’Italia, Giorgia Meloni’s party, he has repeatedly expressed indulgence towards the legacy of Mussolini’s fascism. His presence arouses indignation, especially here in Charleroi, an anti-fascist and working-class city, where many Italian miners from the Bois du Cazier had fled the regime or joined the anti-fascist resistance. We choose to turn our backs on him.”
Before the commemoration began, Belgian media reported, at the entrance to the Bois du Cazier site, Charleroi police had seized a banner and posters from activists protesting against the presence of right-wing Italian politicians.
“Seventy years after the Bois du Cazier mining disaster, we have not forgotten. Today, the Fgtb Charleroi & South Hainaut was present together with our comrades from the CGIL to commemorate the 262 victims of the disaster. But our commitment is not limited to ceremonies. Safety and health at work, the dignity of workers and a humane migration policy remain current trade union battles”, it is specified. “Luc Triangle, general secretary of the international trade union confederation (ITUC), recalled during the commemoration: ‘Members of the miners’ union had warned that safety measures were insufficient and that an accident could happen” in Marcinelle, continues the union. “Seventy years later, the fight for workplace safety and anti-fascism remains more relevant than ever”, it underlines.
Fidanza had attacked the CGIL
«The CGIL must be ashamed! This morning at the Bois du Cazier, during the official commemorations of the Marcinelle tragedy. Well, the CGIL representatives turned their backs while the President of the Senate Ignazio La Russa read the message from the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella. They did the same during the speech of the Vice President of the European Parliament Antonella Sberna. A pathetic and shameful gesture, which demonstrates a total lack of sense in the institutions, a blind hatred that today overwhelms even the President of the Republic. The left dissociates itself from this massacre! Carlo Fidanza, Head of the Fratelli d’Italia delegation to the European Parliament, declared this on the sidelines of the commemoration ceremony for the victims of Marcinelle.
Meloni: “A serious and shameful gesture”
“Turning one’s back during the commemoration of Marcinelle is a serious and shameful gesture. Today, during the ceremony for the 262 workers who died in the mine, some representatives of the CGIL chose to turn their backs while the President of the Senate Ignazio La Russa intervened and read the message from the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella”. This is what the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, says in a post published on her social networks.
“A political protest transformed into a gesture of contempt towards the institutions of the State, precisely at the moment in which Italy pays homage to 262 victims and the sacrifice of many of our compatriots. And it is even more serious if those who do so are representatives of an organization which has among its reasons for being the representation and protection of workers.
Marcinelle is not the place for political divisions. It is the place of memory, respect and dignity of work. Whoever chose to turn their backs today has disrespected all of this.”
Landini: “Fidanza got sunstroke, Cgil never looks the other way”
«If a certain Mr. Fidanza, to make it known that he exists, has to speak badly of the CGIL, I believe that – here in Marcinelle today it is sunny – he has sunstroke. Because the CGIL, if you don’t know, I’ll tell you, never looks the other way at any time, much less with respect for our President of the Republic.” The general secretary of the CGIL Maurizio Landini told ANSA, replying to the head of the Fdi delegation Carlo Fidanza. Landini, together with a large delegation from the CGIL, participated this morning in the ceremony of the 70th anniversary of the Marcinelle tragedy, at the Bois du Cazier.