S-Tiles - settore ceramico

THE CERAMIC SECTOR IN ACTION

DISABLED PERSONS AND LABOUR POLICIES: A PILOT PROJECT. A social co-operative that facilitates access to the labour market in the field of ceramic testing is active in the territory of Rubiera (in the Scandiano district of the Reggio-Emilia province). A district ceramic company is experimenting in innovative directions to promote the possibility of work for disabled persons. The local council and the social services department of the local health agency (AUSL) have been able to guarantee the transparency, the proper approach and good intentions of the agreement. These elements have allowed the possibility of initiating a genuinely innovative pilot program within the Reggio-Emilia area enterprise environment. Thanks to this agreement, and with the support of the social services department, a specific section will be established in the testing department of the company Ceramica Rondine where it will be possible to integrate one or more persons with reduced working ability. The agreement will make it possible to more effectively position this process of integration within the working environment. The initiative also moves in the direction of promoting cultural change with respect to granting the right to work to everybody. This process is evolving through an increase in the value of the remaining capacities and collaborators, considering them within the network of different social actors, in a new perspective of shared social responsibility. A similar initiative has been under way for the past few years in the company Cooperativa Ceramica d’Imola with the integration of more than 30 disabled persons in several of the company's departments, such as the information technology section.