Workers demonstrate in Milan to defend safety and show solidarity with immigrants

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In February 1999, 150,000 people took part in a demonstration in Milan, northern Italy, called by the Cgil, Cisl and Uil trade union confederations. The aim was to highlight citizens' safety and solidarity towards non-EU immigrants.

Immigrants to Italy from outside the EU have recently been reported to be at the centre of a number of criminal activities in Milan. Commentators believe that such episodes have led some elements of public opinion to see an "invasion" of non-EU immigrants as the main cause of criminality and of insecurity felt by citizens. Such opinions have, it appears, even led some politicians and other people to take racist positions. In such circles, the criminal acts concerned have been given as the reason for carrying out a campaign against the policy of integration of immigrants adopted by the Italian government, with the support of trade unions, through a recent decree that legalises the position of about 250,000 immigrants.

Recently, Lega Nord- a political party which proposes the creation of an independent state of northern Italy, known as Padania- started to collect people's signatures on a petition to abolish the current law on immigration.

On 13 February 1999, the three main trade union confederations - Cgil, Cisl and Uil- organised a demonstration in Milan, aimed at defending citizens' right to feel safe and at showing solidarity with immigrants. The event attracted some 150,000 workers and other people, including retired people, students and workers of different nationalities, and was regarded as being very successful and meaningful at national as well as local level. Prior to the demonstration, the Cardinal of Milan, Carlo Maria Martini met the secretaries general of Cgil, Cisl and Uil, Sergio Cofferati, Sergio D'Antoni and Pietro Larizza, who explained the reasons behind the demonstration.

The event ended with a rally at which Mr D'Antoni of Cisl asserted that citizens' safety must be guaranteed through a greater coordination of the police forces, because only an organised state can defeat criminality. Mr Larizza of Uil stated that there is no need to take special police measures, but that a constant presence of the forces of order would be enough "to increase citizens' confidence in the state, and isolate racists and the arrogance of organised crime". Mr Cofferati of Cgil addressed the subject of a multiethnic society as a source of richness for a country. "I don't like the word integration because it presupposes that a resident should give something up to make room for someone else who comes from abroad - on the contrary, the idea of a fruitful union of different people and different cultures should be more widespread," explained Mr Cofferati. Mr D'Antoni stressed the importance of spreading culture and the need for a greater distribution of knowledge because "ignorance is at the basis of every abuse, of every injustice and of every form of racism."

Clandestine immigration represents a major problem in Italy, with hundreds of people being disembarked on the coasts of the South every day by criminal traffickers. Once they have arrived, many of these illegal immigrants go to Rome and to the cities of northern Italy. In Lombardy, out of the estimated 200,000 immigrants, about 46,000 are illegal. Together with Latium, Lombardy is one of the Italian regions with the highest presence of immigrants.

In the document calling the demonstration, the union confederations underlined the need for greater and better coordination among social policies, institutional policies and police and public authorities in general. To this end, they proposed consolidating the practice of concertation among the various parties at local level through the signature of protocols aimed at establishing safety and legality. Social and integration policies should, it is stated, be strengthened in order to legalise the position of all illegal immigrants. The document states that: "it is the social hardship linked to the condition of illegal citizenship of many immigrants that exposes them to the risk of being involved in organised crime." The culture of legality should be taught from the first years of school, states the document, and to this end there should be an active commitment by educational institutions to teach young people "respect for the rules of a correct social and civil dialogue as the fundamental element for living together".

Political parties belonging to the centre-left coalition government and the left-wing opposition showed a high level of participation in the 13 February demonstration. During his speech, Sergio Cofferati of Cgil drew attention to the absence of the mayor of Milan, Gabriele Albertini, elected by a center-right council majority. He rejected the mayor's proposal that an "area agreement" (IT9803155N) should be concluded that allows immigrant workers to be employed at lower wages than Italian citizens.