August 8th marks the “National Day of Italian Labor Sacrifice Around the World”, which coincides with the commemoration of the mining accident in Marcinelle, Belgium, in which 262 miners, including 136 Italians, lost their lives at the Bois du Cazier mine in 1956.
For the occasion, the Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Antonio Tajani addressed a message to his compatriots abroad:
“Seventy years ago, on August 8, 1956, Marcinelle entered forever in the collective memory
of our country and Europe.
In the mine of the Bois du Cazier, 262 workers of twelve nationalities lost their lives,
of which 136 Italians. Today we remember them one by one. Behind those numbers were
names, faces, families, hopes. Men who left to build, through work,
a better future for their children and to contribute to the rebirth of Italy.
This day also belongs to those who remain: widows, orphans and the
community that knew how to transform immense pain into the strength of the
memory and in the courage to move forward. From them we learned the meaning
more authentic than dignity: that of those who had left their land for
work and that of those who, for seventy years, have preserved and handed down the
memory.
For this reason, since 2001, on the initiative of the Berlusconi Government, 8 August is the
National Day of Italian Labor Sacrifice Around the World.
Marcinelle is an Italian tragedy, but also a profoundly European one. From that
pain also matured the awareness that Europe should not be
only an economic space, but a community of rights, solidarity and protection
of the person.
I worked in Brussels, together with the whole Government, to make 8 August the
European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Labour. An initiative I have
strongly desired and it will soon be a reality. In this European spirit it is mine
intention to carry out a new visit to Marcinelle in the coming months together with the
President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.
Memory must translate into responsibility and action. Our Constitution
founds the Republic on work, recognizes every citizen’s right to work and
calls each to the duty to contribute to the progress of society. Every life
lost at work affects one of the very foundations of our democracy.
No economic outcome can be worth a human life. The safety of those who work
is the first measure of a country’s civilization. Prevention, training, are needed
clear rules, rigorous controls and a shared responsibility of institutions,
businesses and workers.
Seventy years later, Italy is rallying around Marcinelle. He does it for
pay tribute to the victims, to express closeness to their families and to
renew their gratitude towards the millions of compatriots who, with their work,
the skills and sacrifice, continue every day to give prestige to our country
in the world.
To cherish Marcinelle’s memory means turning it into a responsibility.
It means defending the dignity of work everywhere, strengthening the culture of
security and work so that no one has to lose their life anymore while
builds his own future and that of his family. That is the commitment
which we assume in front of the fallen of Marcinelle and all Italians in the world:
never again deaths at work.
Honor to the fallen of Marcinelle. Long live Italy, long live Italians abroad, long live Europe!”
Antonio Tajani
(Marcinelle, August 8, 2026)
