Chamber, on cleaning and refreshments the thread that connected red cooperatives and the Democratic Party was cut –

Dario Martini

July 26, 2024

With yesterday’s vote in the Chamber, the “red” thread that for years has tied the Democratic Party to the cooperatives that manage the services of Montecitorio has been severed forever. We are talking about the famous buvette, but also about cleaning and porterage. How was it possible? Thanks to the creation of the new in-house company, strongly desired by the senior police commissioner Paolo Trancassini (FdI), who from September 2 will internalize these services, completely reabsorbing the workforce that numbers 325 people including waiters, cleaners and porters. It is no coincidence that the greatest protests, in some cases very vehement, in recent days have come from the 5 Star Movement and the Democratic Party. One of the most agitated was Democratic MP Stefano Vaccari, who yesterday thundered: «It was a coup by the centre-right, which with crude lies, unmasked in the parliamentary debate, attempted to make people believe that the enemies of the people were those political forces that asked, without any prejudice, for more time to reflect».

Vaccari, from Reggio Emilia, knows the cooperatives well, so much so that he worked there himself, when in recent years, having lost his seat as a senator, he was hired as head of external relations by Unieco, a red cooperative from Reggio that dealt with waste and remediation. And also from Reggio is Cirfood, a cooperative that until now has managed the catering of the Chamber of Deputies. It is certainly a coincidence, but the former president of Cirfood, Ivan Lusetti, in 2022 supported Stefano Bonaccini’s run for secretary of the Democratic Party. Then we know how it went. Bonaccini lost and Elly Schlein was chosen. But this matters little. Cirfood is precisely that company that has the largest number of workers who will be internalized and will become permanent employees of the Chamber.

The other main cooperative that was ousted by the revolution voted yesterday morning is Colser, specialized in cleaning, also based in Emilia Romagna, in Parma. The new in-house company was approved as part of the internal budget of the Chamber that received the green light from the Chamber. The planned allocations amount, overall, to about 14 million euros. Unlike the opposition, applause comes from the majority. The vice president of the Chamber of Deputies, Fabio Rampelli (FdI), says he is “surprised by the fact that there is no transversal impetus to support the challenge represented by the launch of an in-house company for the management of the services of the Chamber of Deputies. We are trying to improve and optimize the services and the quality of work. The accusation of having rushed is unfounded given that the poverty wages and precariousness within Montecitorio have been discussed for ten years, without the left having lifted a finger at the time. We were in no hurry: we did what we thought was right in the given time, being in the second year of the legislature”.