Wide Protests In Italy And Spain To Reopen The Gambling Sector
While tight regulations are being imposed on online gambling (judi online), casinos, gaming halls, and betting rooms in many European countries have been closed for weeks in order to strengthen corona measures. But now Italian and Spanish resistance is rising. In both countries, affected workers are protesting.
Women’s Protest Announced In Rome
Giocare Italia, an Italian gaming association, called for a peaceful protest yesterday in the capital Rome. As the industry magazine AGIMEG reported in [Italian], the demo was correctly registered and approved.
Hundreds of employees from the gambling industry gathered on January 12th, in front of the Italian House of Representatives on Plaza Montecito Rio. For this demonstration, the gaming association asked women who serves in the industry to express their voice.
Antonia Campanella, a member of the GiocareItalia Management Committee, explains:
Being the organizer of the protests, I urge all women serving in the gambling industry to be present in the said event so that politicians and governing bodies can hear us. The situation is out of control. This is an opportunity for us so that our voices be heard and to reopen affected workplaces.
Campanella stressed that the protest must comply with all measures against Covid and maintain complete peace. Campanella further said that if politicians once again ignore the demands and fail to answer industry questions, there will soon be massive protests across the industry. This can lose its peaceful character.
Association of 2,000 workers in the Basque Country
In Spain, there is also growing dissatisfaction with the continued closure of the gaming industry. The Catalan Gambling Association launched an anti-discrimination campaign due to the corona rules in late December. Today, resistance in the Basque Country is also increasing.
According to a report by Spanish industry media on Tuesday, 2,000 workers from the 210 Basque game halls gathered and called for work to resume. Spokesperson Txarli Ayala said:
Our work is important to us. We are no criminals. We are committed to providing quality service to those who visit one of the many leisure places in the Basque Country. Workers in gambling houses work hard to adhere to all stated laws including restrictions of minors to access gaming halls so as not to compromise anti-covid measures.
It is not justified that the gambling industry is the only one to remain closed while restaurants, shopping centers, and other leisure facilities are allowed to reopen.
There is no reason to say that restaurants, shopping malls, and other leisure facilities could resume while the gambling industry remains to be closed down.
To aggravate the situation, most gambling employees did or did not receive the promised state financial aid. Ayala said the government actually starved the victims.