(Marcinelle, 8 August 2026)
Seventy years ago, on 8 August 1956, Marcinelle became forever etched in the collective memory of our country and of Europe.
In the Bois du Cazier mine, 262 workers of twelve nationalities lost their lives, including 136 Italians. Today, we remember each and every one of them. Behind those numbers were names, faces, families and hopes. They were men who had left their homeland to build, through their work, a better future for their children and to contribute to Italy’s reconstruction.
This day also belongs to those who remained: the widows, the orphans and the communities that were able to transform immense grief into the strength of remembrance and the courage to move forward. From them, we have learned the deepest meaning of dignity: the dignity of those who had left their homeland to work, and of those who, for seventy years, have safeguarded and passed on their memory.
That is why, since 2001, on the initiative of the Berlusconi Government, 8 August has been observed as the National Day of Sacrifice of Italian Labour in the World.
Marcinelle was an Italian tragedy, but also a profoundly European one. Out of that suffering came, among other things, the awareness that Europe should be not merely an economic space, but a community founded on rights, solidarity and the protection of the individual.
I worked in Brussels, together with the entire Government, to establish 8 August as a European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Workplace Accidents. This is an initiative that I strongly advocated and that will soon become a reality. In this European spirit, I intend to make a new visit to Marcinelle in the coming months, together with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.
Remembrance must translate into responsibility and action. Our Constitution founds the Republic on work, recognises every citizen’s right to work and calls upon each person to contribute to the progress of society. Every life lost at work strikes at one of the very foundations of our democracy.
No economic achievement can ever be worth a human life. The safety of workers is the foremost measure of a country’s civilisation. Prevention, training, clear rules, rigorous inspections and shared responsibility among institutions, businesses and workers are essential.
Seventy years on, Italy stands united around Marcinelle. It does so to pay tribute to the victims, to express its closeness to their families and to renew its gratitude to the millions of Italians who, through their work, skills and sacrifice, continue every day to bring honour to our country around the world.
Safeguarding the memory of Marcinelle means transforming it into responsibility. It means defending the dignity of work everywhere, strengthening a culture of safety and working to ensure that no one should ever again lose their life while building their own future and that of their family. This is the commitment we make before the fallen of Marcinelle and before all Italians around the world: never again deaths at work.
Honour to the fallen of Marcinelle. Long live Italy, long live Italians abroad, long live Europe!
Antonio Tajani
