Naples Public Sector Union Challenges Daycare Service Tender Cuts

The Cisl Public Function of Naples contests the contents of the tender for the management service of municipal nurseries and micro-nurseries, for which a budget of one million euros less than the previous one has been planned, and asks for an urgent meeting with Mayor Gaetano Manfredi and the Councilors for Education Maura Striano and for the Budget Pier Paolo Baretta to modify it. In a letter signed by the general secretary of the metropolitan area federation Luigi D’Emilio and the head of the Third Sector department Vincenzo Migliore, the "negative consequences that the decision to initiate the procedure for the service management would produce, dropping from 12 to 11 million in economic commitment, both on the educational front and on the contractual side for the over 100 operators engaged" in the city territory are highlighted. "We are - says the leader of the Fp D’Emilio - totally against the clear cut of hours applied to the professional figures involved in the activities, such as coordinators, educators, and auxiliaries. At the same time, we note that the economies at the base of the tender are not in line with the tables provided by the social cooperation contract renewed last March 5th. These are measures that will put the operators in serious difficulty, with inevitable economic repercussions on their families, and at risk the same jobs. Even the users will suffer devastating consequences, because co-presence cannot be guaranteed, and consequently safety levels." The alarm from Cisl sounds like a real warning. "Naples - says the trade union organization - cannot afford to cut a single euro on services to citizens, especially those educational ones which, thanks to a great work of planning, have achieved important results. Now we have full structures and waiting lists that should be satisfied. Instead, rather than enhancing, it is thought to reduce and everything is questioned again." Migliore in turn also denounces the fact that "the new tender does not award the highest score to companies that hire on a permanent basis, thus creating further job insecurity that a public institution cannot support." For the 21 nurseries and micro-nurseries in the city, the prospects, given the Cisl's position, do not look at all calm. "We hope," concludes the head of the category D’Emilio, "that the Municipality will call us as soon as possible and declare its willingness to change the tender. Otherwise, we will put in place a massive mobilization and all the necessary fight initiatives, including strike, to prevent this latest injustice from being consumed."