Today, Democratic Party (PD) Secretary Elly Schlein joined an anti-government rally organised by the populist opposition Five Star Movement in Rome.
Centre-left opposition Democratic Party (PD) Secretary Elly Schlein joined an anti-government rally organised by the populist opposition Five Star Movement in Rome on Saturday. They were protesting against a new labour package introduced by the government.
“We wanted to bring a sign of will, to join forces on the issues on which the Movement has chosen to mobilise today,” said Schlein. The rally, led by M5S leader and former premier Giuseppe Conte, went under the slogan “Enough of precarious lives”.
On May Day, Meloni introduced more precariousness,” said Conte in a social video announcing the rally at the end of May. He was referring to the package of labour measures introduced by the cabinet on May 1 cutting income tax for low earners, making it easier to renew temporary job contracts and reintroducing the so-called voucher system to pay for seasonal or occasional work.
“On top of that, she cut social spending for people in need, accusing them of sitting around on the sofa,” he added. This comment was in relation to the decision to replace the so-called citizenship wage, introduced by the M5S, with two new anti-poverty benefits.
“On the other hand, the government managed to find money for more military supplies. Are these the policies of the Meloni government we want? Clearly not. We must oppose this. Let’s meet again on June 17 in Rome. We will march in a procession, to say no to the increasingly precarious and insecure lives that this government wants to impose on us,” concluded Conte.
Fight against job insecurity
Schlein said the fight against job insecurity and the “defence of a tool like the income that Meloni is essentially cancelling” are issues “on which the PD intends to continue to mobilise”.
“So we wanted to manifest this desire to join forces with the other opposition (organisations). There are areas on which we can work together even in our differences. One of these is the battle over quality work and the minimum wage, on which the PD, M5S, Greens and Left Alliance (AVS) and even (centrist Carlo) Calenda have made proposals,” she said.
“We will continue to work so that on these issues we can be more effective together in opposing what the Meloni government is doing, which increases precariousness and increases the fear of the future that affects young people and women especially in the south of this country,” added Schlein.
