Ragusa, Buscemi (ControCorrente): "Volunteers paid 4 euros an hour, but the Council doubled its salary"

The municipal councilor of Ragusa Saverio Buscemi, a member of the ControCorrente movement founded by the honorable Ismaele La Vardera, a candidate for the presidency of the Region, comments on the recent issue regarding the system of so-called "volunteers" employed by the Municipality, describing it as "a matter that is no longer just political, but legal, administrative, and ethical".

Buscemi starts from the statements made by the mayor reported in the press, according to which "volunteering is not an alternative to regular work and cannot be confused with irregular employment relationships". He considers these words "agreeable and correct", but points out that "they do not find confirmation in what emerges from the Municipality's documents".

According to the documentation on volunteer projects, the councilor observes, there would be "over three thousand hours of activity", with individuals engaged for "120, 130 up to 170 hours monthly", structured shifts to open and close facilities, presence on weekends and holidays, maintenance activities, cleaning, and ongoing services in libraries, museums, and sports facilities. A context that, in his view, "has nothing to do with volunteering, but resembles a real organization of work".

By correlating the hours to reimbursements, Buscemi notes that "this leads to effective compensation of 4 euros per hour". And he denounces: "True volunteering is spontaneous and occasional, does not involve shifts, obligations, prohibitions, and regulations that speak of working hours, prohibitions on using cell phones, or consuming food or drinks". We are talking about people who need to work and who, in order to bring "a piece of bread home", accept conditions that "cannot be defined as volunteering".

The councilor also contests the validation of expense receipts for obtaining reimbursements: "It is unacceptable that receipts for products such as yeast, bleach, shower gel, or detergents have been validated". Those who authorized these expenses bear serious responsibility.

The issue is then linked to the theme of political coherence: "While saving on the dignity of people, this administration – in the early months of its term – has increased its allowances up to doubling them. A legitimate choice, of course, but not appropriate if it then fuels a model that gives the impression of compressing the rights of those in difficulty".

In closing, Buscemi addresses Councilor Digrandi directly, who had declared his willingness to resign in case of error: "Do not resign alone. If this system has indeed gone on for months, years, or even decades, as stated by the Prime Minister, then the responsibility is political and collective. On issues like the dignity of work, there is no joking. And the dignity of work cannot be accounted for at 4 euros an hour".