Mohamed Arafat - Si Cobas
Sources
Mohamed Arafat is a prominent leader of the Italian Si Cobas trade union. On March 13, 2021, he was arrested together with others, while peacefully protesting in solidarity with the workers of the UK warehouse of the logistics group FedEx-TNT in Piacenza, Italy, which is carrying out restructuring and announced the layoff of hundreds of workers. Mohamed Arafat and trade unionist Carlo Pallavicini were placed under house arrest. Although the demonstration was reportedly peaceful, Italian authorities used tear gas and violence chasing protesters who ran away. A total of 29 protestors has been placed under investigations. Since the beginning of the year, workers in the logistics sector have been organizing dynamic mobilizations in defense of jobs and workers’ rights in various warehouses and units of logistic giants like Amazon, Nippon Express, Fedex TNT, and others, in Piacenza. Workers also joined the national general strike on January 29 2021 protesting the hardships inflicted on the working class by the insensitivity of the government in handling the COVID-19 crisis.