Cardinal Supports Striking Logistics Workers in Naples
Archbishop Domenico Battaglia voiced strong support for striking GLS employees facing layoffs in Naples, criticizing corporate profit motives.
Cardinal Domenico Battaglia, Archbishop of Naples, offered his public solidarity to striking logistics workers who gathered in prayer at the Cathedral of Naples. The employees, who work for GLS, are engaged in an open-ended strike following fourteen recent layoffs.
Addressing the workers, Cardinal Battaglia stated, "There is no work without rights, and there are no rights without work. In this imperfect journey, where human dignity is too often trampled under the folds of a frantic and ruthless logistics, the cry of those who lose their footing echoes loudly." He noted that he is thinking of the GLS workers carrying the weight of job losses and the anxiety of an uncertain future.
The Archbishop emphasized that labor should not be treated as a mere commodity, nor should workers be reduced to numbers subject to corporate cuts. Behind every single uniform and every package delivered by tired hands, he stated, there are families, hopes, and the sacred right to a dignified life.
Battaglia criticized the fourteen dismissals, arguing they should not serve as a retaliatory weapon to intimidate other workers who joined a labor union. He called for spaces of understanding to be opened in order to reinstate those who were dismissed and to protect those whose jobs remain at risk.
The prelate urged institutions, labor unions, and corporate leadership to sit down together at a negotiating table focused on safeguarding people rather than calculating financial losses. He stressed that corporate responsibility requires acknowledging the human faces that make operations possible, adding that profit becomes unjust when the price is paid by the most vulnerable.
The Church of Naples intends to stand beside the workers to share their concerns and support their pursuit of justice, according to the Archbishop. The goal is to ensure that work returns to being a promise of life rather than a source of fear.
Meanwhile, in Alessandria, a separate mobilization organized by the local Social Laboratory was announced for November 20. Citizens from various backgrounds plan to protest against job insecurity, high housing costs, low wages, and inadequate public services, demanding greater protections and a stable future.