“Let’s not delegate others to make the choices that concern our emergency services”

We publish here the intervention by Michele Gaglione, the General Secretary of the trade union CISL Public Office in Varese, following the news that the Red Cross will soon be abandoning the emergency medical service, in Lombardy.

I have read, on VareseNews, everyone’s concerns about the 118 service in Lombardy, and I, too, would like to say something. For years, I have followed the events concerning the Red Cross in Varese Province, and never before have I been so angry with the people managing the renewal of the agreements. In Varese, we have achieved important agreements that have enabled the local committees to manage the service effectively and efficiently, making innovations with respect to the past and with respect to other provinces, with a mayor that cares about workers’ protection and that takes account of the needs of the organisation, so that it may provide people with a quality service. At a difficult time like this, we cannot just sit back and wait for things to happen, we have to come up with suggestions that will enable the Red Cross to continue working with the local emergency service company AREU. Some time ago, I asked to meet all of the local committee chairpersons, so that we might combine forces and ideas, and find a joint solution, but I got no reply! They have cut themselves off, and all they do is complain about costs and about the regional business tax; I now renew the invitation to trade unionists, chairpersons and politicians in the area to meet, to combine forces and ideas, and to PUT FORWARD PROPOSALS for Varese Province, which has 30% of the Lombardy workers on temporary contracts. How can we even think of asking others to make decisions that concern our province? At the last meeting in the offices of the Region, the Red Cross was represented by a director from Rome! What does someone who sits behind a desk in Rome know about what is going on in Varese Province, which I remind you all, extends from the border with Switzerland to the metropolitan area of Milan. The fact that it is spread throughout the country enables the Red Cross to arrive at an emergency very quickly, and it is the rapid times that save human lives. It’s not possible to put forward a solution like the one in Valceresio, where ANPAS operates during the day, and Red Cross volunteers, at night; volunteers are invaluable when included in an established organisation like the Red Cross, working in synergy with the employees, using the same means, and the same offices, with interchangeable professional skills, and shifts that take account of the demands of the service and those of the people who have to go to another workplace. Let’s not leave the destiny of the Red Cross in Varese in the hands of others; does it have to be the trade union that claims responsibility for the role of the territory? Are we sure that the interests of Rome are the same as those of Varese? United we stand. The chairpersons know where to find me, I’m ready to meet them and to find solutions to put forward to those who must decide. Let’s stop complaining and get involved.

The General Secretary

CISL FP Varese

Michele Gaglione