Istalia

[XanderOne]

Contract renewal: unions open to confrontation, employers on lert

After the Giunio reform, the unions are united and strengthened in negotiations. FederIndustria fears "excessive" demands and calls for government intervention

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September 5661

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A scorching summer is dawning on the labor front: negotiations between employers' associations and the main unions for the renewal of national collective agreements will begin in the coming days, in a climate completely different from previous years. The collective bargaining reform introduced by the Giunio government has changed the game, significantly strengthening the role of unions in negotiating tables, restoring tools and prerogatives that had long been weakened.

While at the beginning of the year, the major trade unions, CISU, UGL and SNSM, appeared divided and uncertain over the controversial privatization plan, today the country's three main unions appear united again and confident of asserting their positions, just as they forced the government to back down on the reform.

The confederion leaderships have already reached broad agreement on a common platform that will be brought to the negotiating table. This includes inflation-linked wage increases, revised working hours, strengthened protections in the most precarious sectors, and greater involvement of worker representatives in strategic corporate decisions.

For its part, FederIndustria, the national employers' association, is observing the situation with growing attention and, according to some internal rumors, not without concern. The association's president told the press that he expects a "frank discussion with reasonable interlocutors, truly driven by the desire to find a fair compromise". However, in more conservative business circles, there are fears that union demands are becoming too radical, and some have even polemically called them "true Metzism".

Uncertainty also extends to relations with the government: employers expect an active role from the Ministry of Labor and Employment, but at the same time have doubts about Minister Simone Barbato, a member of the Hosian Democratic Union, the government party that was instrumental in supporting the collective bargaining reform and is now viewed with suspicion by some in the business community.

Meanwhile, unions are announcing a season of mobilization and visibility: a series of sector-specific strikes are already being organized, with the aim of "making the voices of workers heard and demonstrating the strength of a united, aware, and determined class".

All the ingredients, in short, for a very hot summer. And not just in terms of climate.