His comment came in a message to mark the 68th anniversary of the Marcinelle mining disaster that claimed the lives of 262 people, including 136 Italian migrant workers, in Belgium on August 8, 1956.
It was also the 23rd anniversary of the National Day of Sacrifice of Italian work in the world.
“From its first article, the Constitution of the Republic establishes an ideal unbreakable bond between democracy and work,” said Mattarella.
“The full respect of workers’ dignity is a fundamental principle, also affirmed at an international level.
“An objective which, however, has not been fully achieved,” the President said.
“For the past 23 years, the date of the mining disaster of Marcinelle of 1956 has given life to the National Day of Sacrifice of Italian work in the world.
“The impact of the tragedy which 68 years ago shocked 262 families - of which 136 were Italian - gave it a very strong symbolic value.
“What occurred at Bois du Cazier is thus a call to remember the sacrifice of all Italian workers who died abroad while undertaking their professional activity and to those who contributed with their labour to countries, including faraway ones.”
Mattarella went on to say that working “in safety is the first elementary condition”.
“Marcinelle and other tragedies that involved Italian migrants in five continents still represent today a key warning to promote the dignity of labour, an irrevocable value of our community’s identity,” he concluded.
Mattarella also expressed solidarity to the families, friends and colleagues of workers killed on the job at Bois du Cazier and in other parts of the world.
ANSA
