Ragusa, the Democratic Party presents a motion to regulate the civil protection service

The Democratic Party council group of Ragusa, composed of the group leader Peppe Calabrese and councilors Giuseppe Podimani and Mario Chiavola, along with the secretary of the local club Riccardo Schininà, has submitted a motion to the City Council to address the management of civil protection services and sea rescue at the Marina di Ragusa facility.

The initiative is part of the path initiated by the PD in recent weeks, marked by public denunciations regarding the existence of a systematic reliance on volunteers engaged in activities that, by nature and continuity, equate to labor services.

The measure examines the case of four operators who have been engaged for years in monitoring and sea rescue, as well as in the civil protection functions of the Municipality.

According to the PD's account, already presented at the press conference on Friday, these operators would continuously perform such duties receiving about seven euros per hour, paid directly from municipal funds, yet without enjoying the protections provided by subordinate employment, such as vacation, illness, and social security contributions.

The text emphasizes that these functions constitute an essential and structural public service for the territory, which cannot be ensured through continuous volunteering, but requires regularly hired personnel.

“As we have already stated in previous meetings with the press – say Schininà and Calabrese – we are facing a system that over the years has allowed important public services to operate by resorting to work disguised as volunteering. Even though the mayor continues to downplay it, this is a situation that must be addressed with seriousness and a sense of responsibility, ensuring above all the rights of the people involved.”

The motion commits the administration to plan for the stable hiring of four units with the profile of experienced operator for civil protection and sea rescue activities, incorporating this need into the three-year personnel plan.

In the immediate term, to ensure the continuity of the service, the document proposes the temporary contracting of the four operators drawing from the existing ranking, pending the completion of a public competition.

"Volunteering, we reiterate – they conclude – is a valuable resource for the community, but it cannot be used to replace paid work or to cover structural public services. With this motion, we ask the administration to build a transparent system that respects workers' rights."

The Democratic Party will continue in the coming weeks the activity of verification and proposal in all areas of the entity where, over time, volunteers have been used to ensure essential public services.