In a powerful display of protest, mock coffins filled Milan’s Piazza La Scala on Friday, organized by Italy’s second-largest union to draw attention to the alarming rate of workplace deaths in the country. The 172 cardboard coffins lined up in the square symbolized the exact number of workers who tragically lost their lives on the job in the northern Lombardy region alone last year.
The UIL labor union spearheading the protest demanded that both the government and businesses take more action to protect Italian workers. Enrico Vezza, the union leader, expressed the deep anguish and anger felt by the workers, emphasizing that behind each coffin laid out in the square were real individuals with families and loved ones.
The union’s campaign, titled “Zero Deaths,” aims to bring awareness to the issue of workplace safety in Italy. A sign at the center of the piazza displayed the staggering number of workers who have died in the workplace since 2018, reaching a peak of 1,709 deaths in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Italy currently ranks eighth among European countries in fatalities at work, with an incidence of 2.66 deaths per 100,000 employed, compared to the EU average of 1.76. The protest comes amidst a heated debate over workplace safety in Italy, following a series of tragic incidents across the country, including recent fatalities at a sewage treatment plant in Sicily and an explosion at an underground hydroelectric plant in northern Italy. The call for action to prevent further workplace deaths is loud and clear, as workers and unions demand change to protect lives on the job.