Italy is close to a historic agreement to reform the labor law, but negotiations stumble in the home straight on the amendment of Article 18 governing the right of dismissal.
Council President Mario Monti today convenes unions and employers for a new round he would have liked, if not definitive, at least open to a deal by Friday. Elsa Fornero, Minister of Labour and the law expert of the work she has long taught at the University of Turin before joining the government in November in "technical" professore, tirelessly led consultations with social partners since early January.
So far, no union, not even the most powerful and most recalcitrant of all, the CGIL, has left the negotiating table, which is itself a success. Yet this same CGIL, which began last Saturday through an agreement approved by the employers and political parties including the Democratic Party.
The support of Silvio Berlusconi
The boss of the union, Susanna Camusso, requires that a worker dismissed for reasons deemed "unfair" to be reinstated in firms with fewer than fifteen employees, as is the case in large companies. A term is deemed economically unsustainable by SMEs, which represent 95% of the industrial Italian.
For its part, the government proposes to leave the decision in court and to establish a compensation of up to 24 months' salary in case of redundancies. Ten years ago, March 23, 2002, at the call of the CGIL, three million workers were demonstrating in Rome against the relaxation of the right to dismiss. Silvio Berlusconi, who was then forced to backtrack, now endorses Mario Monti in his attempt to reform.
Jungle contracts
According to La Repubblica, the CGIL can not easily accept a reform so difficult, after being imposed in December, a pension reform which it disapproved. Workers Confederation criticized moreover the government not unlock 1.2 billion euros in state subsidies to reform the Labour Code who claims 5 billion.
Surprised by the reversal of the CGIL, the moderate unions have undertaken to consult with the Democratic Party to mediate. They should submit a proposal to cons-Mario Monti Tuesday. For its part, the employers threatened not to sign the reform, should it be watered down.
Elsa Fornero is determined to move forward. "We will not discuss endlessly," she said. The Government believes that reform "crucial" for renewed growth. The size in the jungle of contracts and collective agreements, reducing it from 40 to 8.
In addition, to stop the proliferation of temporary contracts that place young people in precarious situations, it provides a three-year apprenticeship during which companies will be entitled to terminate, after which they will be forced to hire permanently. Lack of social agreement, Elsa Fornero announced that the government will submit its draft to Parliament.
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