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Meanwhile, however, the virus is circulating and the logistics sector is confirmed as one of the most exposed also by the conditions of the workers. “It is time to take concrete action in the sector – explains the director of the public health department, Paolo Pandolfi-: deliveries are on the rise and we must avoid taking risks, we are working on an ad hoc campaign.”
Along with the meat processing sector, logistics last summer was the “special guard” of public health departments, tasked with testing all workers in the sector before August 7. A screening also carried out at Interporto among many difficulties, such as night shifts that forced Ausl technicians to work until dawn. But the current situation is very different: in the spring, during closing, warehouse workers and porters were among the few who could leave the house. Today they are immersed in a context: they have children who go to school, family and friends that multiply the possibilities of contagion.
The Gls di classification center Crespellano had already been affected by an outbreak a month ago, with 16 employees testing positive out of 105 employees. The warehouse had been cleaned up and work had been restarted, but the virus did not stop. “It is an old plant, we work almost exclusively at night – explains Massimo Colognese from Filt Cgil -, the workers are often foreigners living in precarious situations. We were unable to activate the Covid committees there that help us keep the situation under control. The truth is that in this sector, sanitary controls must be periodic ”.
The situation with Christmas can only get worse. “The sector has had a 35% increase in turnover, but there are still problems for positive employees to get paid, says Loreti -. With the Holidays, the volume of business increases again and thus subcontractor companies enter the warehouses that also hire the guests of the first reception centers, with very short contracts, impossible to follow. The virus works like this.
Around 8,000 people gravitate around the cargo terminal alone. They often come to work by bus, change in the common locker room, go to work even if they don’t feel well so as not to risk losing their salary. And they are facing real spikes in activity: Christmas deliveries will start soon, but dress rehearsal was already there with Black Friday. There is concern in the City Council and Councilor Lombardo yesterday announced a campaign of quick swabs, in concert with the Ausl. All companies will be asked to participate and the screening will also cover passengers.
“Before Christmas we must give all employees at least a quick swab – says Lombardo – because it is clear that the pressure on the logistics sector is increasing and this year more than ever the safety of workers and consumers is at stake. If I never leave the house to avoid contagion and then a delivery man gives me a package that may be positive, the precautions taken are nullified. For this reason, the metropolitan table for security was convened with Ausl, Interporto and institutions to define the technical details of this projection. What goes hand in hand with the horsemen. Five hundred young people who often do not have an electronic medical record or work illegally. But now we have to be able to test everyone.
