(by Massimiliano D'Elia) Public actions continue to de-legitimize military trade union associations, which thanks to the Constitutional Court's ruling n. 120 / 2018, they are being born after the opinion of the chiefs of the armed forces and the decree of assent of the minister of the defense.
Everything according to the rules. At the Defense Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, a bill is being debated to standardize trade union associations, which takes its name from its M5S rapporteur, Mr Emanuela Corda.
Everything is taking place in a legal manner, in the light of the sun and with the noble intention of adapting the legitimate expectations of the staff with stars to those that the other European armed forces have for some time. Nonetheless, there are some senior general officers in auxiliary, or on leave, who "publicly" oppose an epochal process that gives prestige to a country that with the blood of its citizens has achieved, in history, "democracy", "pluralism" and the possibility of being able to have all its citizens express a superior and absolute right such as that of "opinion". It was precisely this "possibility" that citizens in uniform considered "unique by right and special" were lacking, because with the oath of loyalty to the Republic they serve their state to the utmost sacrifice. There are many soldiers and policemen who have lost their lives in service for their own nation.
Disbelief and disbelief envelop the thoughts of military trade unionists when they were compared, by a senior military officer in auxiliary, to many "Checchi Zalone ready to grab a permanent job".
Words that like slashing wound the soul of those who have decided to take the front line to make history, to found and create the "solid" foundations of the military union to be left as an inheritance to their successors.
Then why mock Checco Zalone, a unique artist of his kind who was able to bring tens of millions of euros into the coffers of Italian cinema and theater ?. A job? Too bad that the spirit and the rules of the military union are not known. The various "military unionists" are staff in service who already have a job, are paid by the state as servants of the state. Military associations can only be joined by staff in service and auxiliary. Where are these jobs?
It is really a pity that we talk publicly about topics that we do not know, or that we do not recognize.
To represent a country like Italy in Europe, another spirit is needed: democratic, inclusive, pluralistic and above all respectful of national and community institutions. The ongoing process is now unavoidable, as it was with the entry of women into the Armed Forces.
Genesis of the Military Syndicate
The Constitutional Court, with sentence no. 120 of 2018, innovating its previous and consolidated jurisprudential orientation, declared the constitutional illegitimacy of article 1475, paragraph 2, of legislative decree March 15, 2010, n. 66 (Code of the military order), as it provides that "The military may not form trade union professional associations or join other trade union associations" instead of providing that "The military may form trade union professional associations under the conditions and with limits set by law; they cannot join other trade union associations ".
The question of constitutional legitimacy was raised by two separate referral orders, respectively by the Council of State (RG No. 111/2017) and the TAR Veneto (RG No. 198/2017), relating to the alleged contract of the aforementioned art. 1475, paragraph 2 of the Code of the military system, with art. 117, first paragraph, of the Constitution, indicating, as interposed norms, both some articles of the ECHR and art. 5 third period, of the European Social Charter (CSE) single paragraph, third period, of the European Social Charter which recognizes the right of trade union association. Specifically, articles 11 ("Freedom of assembly and association") and 14 ("Prohibition of discrimination") of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) were recalled, as most recently interpreted by the sentences issued on 2 October 2014 by the European Court of Human Rights, fifth section, Matelly v France and Association de Défense des Droits des Militaires (ADefDroMil) v France: In a nutshell, with sentence no. 120 of 2018 the Court:
- acknowledged the legitimacy of professional associations of trade union military personnel;
- has deferred the definition of the conditions and limits of this recognition to a specific legislative provision.
- confirmed the legitimacy of paragraph 2 of article 1475 in the part in which it established the prohibition for military personnel to join other trade union associations, "a prohibition from which it follows the need for the associations in question to be composed only of military personnel and that they cannot join different associations ".