This morning at the 5th USL Congress, amid messages from the European and world trade union bodies and greetings from ILO, UIL and Unia, it was one of their own who brought the room to a standstill. Mattia Ceccoli recounted his fight to return to duty after the accident that cost him a leg — a battle in which USL, he said, had been «decisive». Then came an unscripted moment from Francesca Busignani.
A morning of tributes.
In a video message, ETUC (CES) General Secretary Esther Lynch described a union that has grown steadily since 2008 and achieved concrete results. ETUC confederal secretary Giulio Romani gave up attending a demonstration in Brussels to be in Dogana instead. UIL’s organisational secretary Emanuele Ronzoni spoke of «giant strides».
Renzo Ambrosetti, former co-president of the Swiss union Unia, credited concrete work for the fact that USL is today «in second place among San Marino’s trade unions». Carmelo Barbagallo, former general secretary of UIL, closed the first part of the session with a clarification: «All the success you’ve had belongs entirely to you».
The battle is to get back to work, even in a different role, because being a police officer, Ceccoli said, isn’t done «only with your hands, with your legs», but «above all with your heart».
Under current rules, that’s not possible. His, he explained, is the first case in San Marino’s history of an on-duty injury among the police force resulting in this kind of disability: a «pilot case» that demands a change in the rules, «hoping there won’t be an “after” for someone else again».
USL — which he also thanked for standing by him with «above all, human» closeness — had been «decisive», and would continue to be. He entrusted the rest to a single sentence: «I remember when I woke up from the coma, I didn’t look at what I was missing, I looked at what I still had».
Then came the room’s turn.
After thanking Fabrizio Pregnolato for the blues notes that will accompany the congress, Francesca Busignani allowed herself an unscripted moment.
She has known Ceccoli since he was a boy and had already heard him speak on Monday at the Public Employees Federation congress. «It’s an emotion that comes from deep inside», she said, facing a young man who conveys «an incredible force of will, an impressive sense of duty».
All of us, she added, sooner or later close the door of our home and, standing in front of the mirror, sometimes find ourselves more crushed than we thought we were. Hearing him speak this way, «to this family that is your family», helps turn even something «truly terrifying» into «a drive to create something good».
She closed with these words: «You are a truly wonderful person».
After the break, the morning continues with speeches from the other trade unions and employers’ associations — the very interlocutors Busignani had addressed on Wednesday evening. From 2:45pm, the floor passes to the delegates.
