Coronavirus in Catania, cases increase in Pfizer and STMicroelectronics: "impossible to swab everyone"

Coronavirus in Catania: Ugl in favor of drastic reduction of activities. "Hundreds of apprehensive workers must be protected"

Stretto Web – 24 marzo 2020

In the industrial area of Catania, the cases of workers positive for Coronavirus are increasing. After the Pfizer employee who died last week, two more cases have been detected in the pharmaceutical company that employs 800 workers in recent days, while there are already two employees who have tested positive for Covid-19 within the microelectronics multinational.

Of the five stories, only two are related to each other (the third case in Pfizer worked closely with the worker who unfortunately did not make it), while the other states of contagion apparently appear to come from outside.

This is precisely the aspect that has created great apprehension among the over 700 operators who take turns in shifts who are now afraid of contracting the virus. For this reason, after the videoconference of March 19 with the Prefecture, Inps, the provincial health agency and the social partners, yesterday morning with a new online meeting between Confindustria, Pfizer top management and the unions, a solution was reached to suspend production activities for a week with relative low-speed maintenance of plant operation.

“We are satisfied with this final solution which follows our thinking aimed primarily at protecting workers, despite the fact that various prevention measures had already been applied, but also to safeguard production continuity given that the Catania plant has to complete orders for life-saving drugs. Furthermore, the new decree of the President of the Council of Ministers also includes pharmaceutical companies among the essential ones not to be closed – say the provincial secretary of the Ugl chemical federation Carmelo Giuffrida with his deputy Anna Greco, and the union representatives Angelo Mirabella and Francesca Cassone- Fundamental it will be the continuation of the discussion when we will be called to have our say at the technical table, specially set up, on the improvements in terms of protection and safety to be made when we return to operation."

Angelo Mazzeo, employee of STMicroelectronics and provincial secretary of the provincial federation of metalworkers, is also asking for a drastic reduction, to the bare essentials, within the production site. “Yesterday we sent a note to the Prefect to ask him to evaluate some useful proposals at this particular moment.

The new decree, in fact, gives the Prefects the power to grant the opening of establishments which should be closed, given that they operate on a continuous cycle and are of strategic importance for the nation's economy. Closing everything would mean a real potential financial disaster for a healthy company which, at this stage, like all others, is in difficulty, but at the same time – highlights Mazzeo – it is necessary to try to raise "smart working" to 100% and reduce the personnel working in the production chain to the minimum necessary."

Finally, on the two questions, the intervention of the territorial secretary Giovanni Musumeci is recorded: "In these hours we have appreciated what both Pfizer and STMicroelectronics have done and their willingness to dialogue together with Confindustria. For us as Ugl, however, the guarantee of worker protection from this epidemic comes first of all, also because we are unable to cyclically swab employees and, for this reason, we will continue to fight in these as in other realities working."