Italian Port Workers To Protest COVID-19 Green Passes On Friday - Reports

Dock workers at most of Italy's ports will halt activity on October 15 in protest of the government's plan to make COVID-19 vaccination certificates mandatory for all workplaces, The Huffington Post reported on Wednesday, citing a spokesman for Trieste dock workers

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th October, 2021) Dock workers at most of Italy's ports will halt activity on October 15 in protest of the government's plan to make COVID-19 vaccination certificates mandatory for all workplaces, The Huffington Post reported on Wednesday, citing a spokesman for Trieste dock workers.

Starting Friday, the so-called green passes indicating that a person has been either vaccinated, tested negative for COVID-19, or recently recovered from the infection, will become mandatory for all Italian workers. Most longshoremen at Trieste are reportedly not vaccinated, and Italian media fear this could cause disruptions to supply chains.

However, Stefano Puzzer, the spokesman for the Trieste dock workers, said that the economic damage, if any, would be caused solely by the stubbornness of the Italian government in maintaining the green pass mandate.

On Tuesday, the Italian interior ministry tried to mitigate the situation by encouraging employers to offer free PCR tests to workers at key facilities, such as ports, to enable those opposed to vaccination to obtain a green pass. However, this initiative was rejected both by Labour Minister Andrea Orlando, who said that free tests disincentivize people from getting vaccinated, and some companies which refused to pay for the tests.