Italy opens this Friday the most controversial measure of the mandate of Prime Minister Mario Draghi. Also the first that can cause you real wear and tear on the street. Any Italian worker will need, from this Friday and until further notice, the vaccination certificate – known as Green Pass in Italy– to be able to carry out their employment: from the self-employed to employees of multinationals, small companies or domestic employees. The decree approved by the Government provides that whoever does not have it can show a negative test for covid-19. But regardless of the economic impact it would have, no one will be able to do it on a regular basis. After making it mandatory to enter cinemas, museums, gyms and restaurants, Italy tightens the fence against anti-vaccines even more.
The measure, pioneering in the Western world, constitutes in fact the imposition of compulsory vaccination to continue with normal life. A minority part of the country, however, does not agree and has announced for today demonstrations and transport stoppages that could block the country. The Executive, despite the threats and the risk of collapse, has no intention of backing down.
The political opposition to the mandatory vaccination certificate for work has been led in recent weeks by a broad part of the right, mainly by the League and Brothers of Italy. The malaise, however, crystallized last Saturday in the street with all its virulence when Anti-vaccine groups and far-right militants stormed CGIL headquarters, the main union in Italy. The protesters accused them of renouncing the defense of workers’ rights by accepting a measure that they consider unconstitutional. The protests ended with an urban guerrilla, an attempted assault on the seat of the Government and 13 arrested, the majority belonging to fascist parties.
The problem, beyond these radical and residual groups, is that there are currently some three million workers who have not been vaccinated for different reasons. Some do not consider it necessary because of the work they do, others are militants of the anti-vaccine movement and many approach it as a political issue. Several associations of land carriers and port workers, in fact, have announced that they will protest this Friday with a strike. The latter, especially those in the port of Trieste, are the ones that most concern the Executive, as they could even block the country’s naval traffic. These associations have unsuccessfully asked to delay the entry into force of the rule until the next day 30.
The reality is that the measure is unmatched in the rest of Europe due to its high level of restriction. The opposition in the street joins the one that the Executive has found within the Council of Ministers (the representatives of the League doubted until the last minute whether they should give their support to the decision) and in Parliament. It is the first time that Draghi may have difficulties in carrying out a political decision due to its consequences on the street. The first samples have also been seen in some demonstrations, where photographs with his face were burned. An act of vandalism in a very residual part of the country, but that opens a dangerous crack through which an opposition to the Executive on the rise can sneak in. Especially if parties like the Brothers of Italy (the only one outside the Executive) take advantage of the fire electorally.
The pulse does not agree. And some signs already speak of small changes that could be introduced in the decree approved to try to “pacify the street”, as requested by the leader of La Liga, Matteo Salvini. The unions, for example, have requested that the Government lower the price of the tests and that the companies carry it out free of charge to their workers. Salvini supports the measure, but Carlo Bonomi, the president of Confindustria (the Italian employer’s association), immediately ruled out that extreme as well.
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The data from the pandemic in Italy is good. The infection rate is 0.8% and the cases registered yesterday were 2,668. The number of people vaccinated with at least one dose is 77%, a figure that allows the Executive to think about a lightening of the measures when the figure of 90% is close.
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