Statement by Pisa Union of Airport Workers, published in Labor Today Newsletter, March 17, 2022
Labor Today Editorial Comment:
USB (Union Sundacale Di Base) reports that airport workers in Pisa, Italy have refused to load planes headed for Poland disguised as “humanitarian aid” when the workers discovered that what was actually being shipped was weapons and ammunition, final destination, Ukraine! Read the full report here! ~LT Editors
We call for workers to rally on Saturday 19 at the Pisa airport !
The President of Toscana airports, Marco Carrai, declares to the press that the transport of arms from G. Galilei airport will not happen any more: “I can guarantee it”. General Paolo Figliuolo, of the Comando Operativo di Vertice Interforze (COVI), deals with the issue of arms trafficking. He also reported in the national press about the refusal of the workers to load the arms on a civilian
cargo ship:
“…Some operators simply pointed out that they did not have the necessary requisites to carry out the loading of special materials, showing the need for specific authorizations, loaded by other personnel. The materials were part of the military support for Ukraine decided by the parliament, waiting to be loaded on a civilian flight authorized to transport that type of goods”.
It is a B-737 cargo belonging to an airline authorized by NATO to transport war material.
“The activity – concludes COVI – was carried out at a civilian parking lot at Galilei instead of, as is usually the case, in military airport parking lots, due to the exceptional and simultaneous transport activity required by the current situation.
In the face of these admissions, the questions we ask are many, some of which are:
1. Is this how the Draghi government and local governments intend to defend peace and keep the channels of diplomacy open?
2. We are informed that the flights from the G. Galilei airport are many more than those declared by COVI and Carrai. What do COVI and Toscana Airport say about the Ukrainian Antonov UR – 82029 that landed last Saturday 12.3 at Galilei and departed at the early morning of 13.3?
3. What do the public administrations that sit on the board of directors of Toscana Airports (the Region of Tuscany, the Municipality of Pisa in primis) say about this traffic of arms on civilian aircrafts that should be used to transport humanitarian aid?
4. How is it possible that a structure of the Ministry of Defence asks workers who are unaware of the cargo to be handled and who have no competence in moving weapons and explosives, to carry out this operation?
5. What are the risks that the staff of the civil airport G. Galilei, the travelers and the inhabitants of Pisa are running because of this clandestine traffic of weapons and explosives?
6. Is this the way to re-launch the activity and the image of an airport weakened by the last years pandemic?
Questions to which others will be added in the coming days, in which as a trade union we will evaluate all ways to ensure the safety and rights of workers, travelers and the population surrounding the airport site.
We remain shocked and angry at a decision that was pondered and covered up by the military leadership of the Ministry of Defence and by Toscana Airports, unmasked only by the civil conscience of workers who refused to load weapons on cargo.
Against this cynical decision to cover the flights of death under the aegis of “humanitarian aid” we will mobilize Saturday, March 19 with the rally
“From Tuscany bridges of peace not war flights. We give appointment at h. 15 in the square of Galileo Galilei calling all sincere pacifists to participate. USB – Pisa Federation”
*Featured Image: Humanitarian Flights for Ukraine Loaded with Weapons Found in Italy ~Kaohoon International, Thailand