All the (unexpected) winners of the campaign for a fair wage

The adjective that keeps cropping up in immediate reactions is ‘historic’. The agreement reached on St Martin’s Night between the trade union confederations and no fewer than 13 employers’ organisations (ranging from Confindustria to Legacoop, via Confcommercio and CNA) is even described by those involved as harking back to the early 1990s – the era of Ciampi-style social dialogue. They argue that there have been no such ambitious agreements between the social partners since then. Whilst the use of this adjective is certainly an exaggeration, the agreement reached nonetheless bears witness to the vitality of the intermediary bodies following a long period of inactivity; it aids industrial relations and constructive collective bargaining, promotes transparent dialogue between the parties and assesses the representativeness of the trade unions. To be strictly fair, it must be said that it does not entirely rule out the possibility of ‘pirate’ contracts, does not restrict the activities of small transport unions, and does not address the sensitive issue of Friday strikes.

In short, the stronghold of ‘good’ industrial relations is becoming better organised and strengthening the climate of trust between the parties, whilst chaos persists in the weaker sectors (primarily logistics). And for this reason, the former minister and president of the CNEL, Tiziano Treu, when asked to rate the agreement, simply gives it ‘a six-plus’. On the political front, the winners are the incumbent trade union leaders – including Maurizio Landini and the CISL, which has secured an explicit reference to worker participation – but above all Giorgia Meloni, who on last May Day chose to side with the confederal trade unions and ‘good’ contracts against the move towards ‘pirate’ contracts, which was vigorously supported by the League’s undersecretary Claudio Durigon.

And indeed, yesterday the Prime Minister spoke of a ‘historic milestone’ and proudly claimed credit for her government’s role in championing fair wages. Even Confindustria comes out of this looking fairly good, all things considered: the Emilian line taken by the ‘doves’ duo of Orsini and Marchesini has been vindicated in practice and is winning favour with members at a time when the Budget Bill is leaving entrepreneurs high and dry. The Campo Largo, whilst very close to Landini, remains somewhat on the sidelines of the affair but can only applaud, even though Giuseppe Conte has recently begun to associate with representatives of the Cobas. And so it keeps its options open, as the saying goes.

The text of the agreement sets out the so-called ‘perimeters’ in detail; in short, it prevents employers’ organisations from overstepping their remit and choosing, particularly in the service sector, the type of contract to be applied – as in the case of the notorious Multiservizi scheme, which provides for very low wages. It also establishes certain qualitative criteria (long-standing presence, relations with European bodies and welfare institutions) for employer representation, but does not yet quantify these. This is in contrast to the trade unions, where there is even a mandatory requirement to report membership figures. On the sensitive issue of inflation adjustment, the San Martino agreement confirms a 50 per cent adjustment in the event of a delay in contract renewal and, whilst the contract is in force, extends to all workers the IPCA formula provided for and trialled in the metalworkers’ contract. A fair wage is that provided for in the contracts signed by the most representative organisations and which therefore cover the largest number of workers.

The aim is to eliminate ‘pirate’ contracts in this way by excluding them from tax and social security relief and from public funds, in the hope of forcing them to abandon wage dumping. However, to eradicate the practice of discounted contracts entirely, a specific law is needed that extends the principles set out in yesterday’s agreement by applying them erga omnes. Pierpaolo Bombardieri of the UIL hopes the government will take this further step, and Mauro Lusetti (vice-president of Confcommercio) also supports the call. However, Confindustria is not keen on the erga omnes principle; the government seems satisfied for now with the results achieved and has no intention of further extending the crackdown on pirates (who vote for the right anyway); and the broader political spectrum, which might align with Bombardieri’s viewpoint, appears distracted for the time being.

However, the minimum wage proposal so dear to Schlein, Conte and Fratoianni has come off badly. The position of the government and the CNEL has in fact been confirmed (including with the CGIL’s endorsement): to tackle low-paid work, they have always relied on autonomous collective bargaining between the parties, to which San Martino has added the crackdown on ‘pirate’ contracts that we have discussed. The USB, the trade union that fears a curtailment of its scope, is in a gloomy mood: “Under the guise of combating ‘pirate’ contracts, the agreement reinforces the monopoly of the large organisations, entrenches the existing balance of power and reduces the scope for autonomy and industrial action for independent trade unions”.