May 1 of cultural heritage, Mi Riconosci collective: "Open museums, workers without holiday and without rights"

A May Day without a holiday and without rights is what, according to the collective Do you recognize me? I am a cultural heritage professional is about to spend. For several years now, in fact, May Day has been an opening day for museums that record high visitor rates: however, the collective points out, “this is happening on the skin of thousands of workers who have seen a reduction in their rights and work with totally inadequate pay.” Labor Day was definitively transformed into one of the highest moments of enjoyment of cultural heritage with the inclusion of cultural heritage among essential public services: it was September 2015 and the measure was adopted by the Renzi government, the day after a union assembly of Colosseum workers, who were complaining about a year’s delay in the payment of shift allowances and overtime. However, this measure would not change anything in the conditions of cultural heritage workers, according to the collective: “fewer rights for workers, while Labor Day loses the possibility of becoming a space for reflection for an improvement of current working conditions.”

Museums are said to “remain open at all costs because they are essential public services,” points out Daniela Pietrangelo of Mi Riconosci, who also explains, however, that “if culture were an essential public service, we would not see thousands of Italian municipalities without libraries, inaccessible archives, and closed museums across the country. The right to sightseeing has been placed before the right to culture. Are we sure that opening museums 365 days a year, including May 1, will create more ’culture’ and awareness of the importance of our historical and artistic heritage in people ready to flood the halls during the holidays? We think that knowledge, culture and awareness regarding labor rights must necessarily go hand in hand. We think that visits should be of quality, for everyone. Only adequate art education and appreciation is important for the citizenry year-round, not the extension of the ’always open’ model to Museums. The truth is that you are trying to make money with little, with an extra extraordinary opening, stripping Labor Day of its meaning.”

This reality would be made possible by theerosion of rights and the employment of thousands and thousands of workers with precarious contracts, civil service, volunteer work with expense reimbursement and others, concludes the collective, which also ends by launching asurvey on working conditions in the sector inviting workers to fill out a special questionnaire(available at this link).

Pictured is a moment from the demonstration for work in cultural heritage on October 6, 2018.

May 1 of cultural heritage, Mi Riconosci collective: "Open museums, workers without holiday and without rights"

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