Pool strike: “Without help you die”

Pool strike on Sunday 6th February. Squeezed between the revenues lost due to the pandemic, with a sharp reduction in user demand and the deadly increases in expensive bills, the swimming facilities are launching yet another alarm with an initiative that will cause discussion.

the protest

–

For those who run the plants, the situation in Italy is now dramatic and the main associations of aquatic plant managers (AGISI, Assonuoto, Insieme si Vince, Piscine del Piemonte, Piscine Emilia Romagna, SIGIS), gathered in the Coordination of the Associations of Swimming Pools Managers represented at a national level by Marco Sublimi, denounce the very serious and insurmountable economic problems they have faced. “We manage public facilities and provide an essential service by replacing the Municipalities – underlines Marco Sublimi -. We provide a service to millions of users and agonists throughout the country and employ over 300,000 people, including regularly hired employees and sports collaborators. Over 23 months pandemic, we passed 10 without being able to use the systems, while maintaining enormous costs that generated very serious losses. The pools were the first to close and the last to open. They were also the first (6 August 2021) to have imposed the obligation of the Green Pass for users, despite this we still work at 40% of the capacity due to Covid limits, which have in fact remained unchanged. The various refreshment decrees do not even cover 5% of annual revenues, but on average they are registered sales reductions of over 50-60%, with the impossibility of paying for electricity, water and gas. Recently, the “expensive bill” has been added with increases of over 50%. example: for a medium-sized plant there were around € 20,000 per month of users, today we are well over € 30,000, which means € 120,000 in annual price increases! Furthermore, the fourth pandemic wave is generating a 50% reduction in users, with daily cancellations, non-renewals and requests for reimbursements. So it is impossible to survive! “.

crisis

–

The pools received a contribution of 30 million euros in the latest refreshment decree, but the losses in recent months are much greater. Among the requests of the operators, in addition to a contribution of 150 million euros to avoid closure, there is that of an extension of the eco bonus of 110 per cent to all the renovation and energy efficiency works of the plants.