“Intesa fondativa su salari, rinnovi, inflazione e rappresentanza”. CISL Secretary Fumarola speaks

Silvia Fumarola, general secretary of the CISL, speaks to Il Foglio about a “historic agreement”. The agreement reached on Thursday night by her trade union, together with the UIL and CGIL, and thirteen employers’ organisations – including Confindustria and Confcommercio – covers all the rules governing work, wages, collective bargaining, employee participation and representation in Italy.

“In practice,” says the trade unionist, “it concerns all the crucial aspects of industrial relations: it puts pay packets and the defence of purchasing power back at the centre; it reinforces the national collective agreement as the cornerstone of the system whilst extending decentralised bargaining to local areas and small businesses; it establishes worker participation in business decisions; it recognises training as a universal right; and it strengthens health and safety at work, finally cracking down decisively on ‘pirate’ contracts”.

In her view, there are at least two reasons why this agreement is ‘historic’. ‘The first,’ she says, ‘is that we are reaffirming a fundamental principle of the inter-trade union system: labour rules are drawn up by the social partners, not by politicians through legislation, and remain shielded from political influence and changes in the ruling coalition. ‘The second,’ adds Fumarola, ‘is that we have reached an agreement covering every type of business, establishing rules that apply to all parties and to all contracts in the private sector. It was drawn up by trade unions and businesses entirely independently, following lengthy discussions – by no means easy or a foregone conclusion – whilst the country is becoming polarised on every issue. This is why it is right to describe it as a foundational agreement, just as major inter-confederal agreements in the past were, which pulled the country out of the quicksand. And for us, it is the first chapter of that Pact which we are now calling on politicians to complete.”

The secretary then goes on to explain how the agreement will regulate wage adjustments in line with inflation: “The model,” she says, “is the one already tried and tested by the metalworkers’ union, with an annual review, and by the chemical workers’ union, with a biennial review. Each collective agreement chooses the frequency. At that stage, the parties compare the projected IPCA-NEI (the price index excluding energy goods, ed.), as calculated at the time of renewal, with the figure actually recorded by ISTAT. The difference is applied to the minimum wage (TEM) and reflected in the payslip. This adjustment cannot be absorbed by subsequent renewals, as has happened in some contracts.”

What happens, however, if the renewal is delayed? “In that case,” explains the trade unionist, “mandatory financial compensation linked to inflation is triggered, subject to compliance with the procedures: a platform six months in advance, a response within thirty days, negotiations within two months, and no unilateral action. This is not automatic indexation – which fuels a race between prices and wages – but collective bargaining. Delaying pay rises will no longer be in anyone’s interests.”

Could the agreement also mark a turning point in terms of representation? “Absolutely,” replies Fumarola, “it is one of the pillars of the agreement. As far as the trade unions are concerned, representation is determined by a combination of membership figures and the electoral support gathered through votes cast for the RSUs and RSAs. An important new development concerns the possibility for workers, on the initiative of those who collect signatures from 30 per cent plus one of the workforce, to initiate procedures to establish or vote on company-level RSUs. Furthermore, the aim is to extend representation to smaller companies as well.

“On the employers’ side,” continues the CISL secretary, “strict qualitative criteria are set, such as the organisation’s track record, membership of European representative bodies such as the EESC, and the promotion of contractual welfare schemes, in addition to a quantitative parameter based on the actual number of workers covered by the agreement, as recorded via the Uniemens data flows and the CNEL.”

Fumarola therefore explains why the agreement has delighted Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who, in response to the broad coalition’s minimum wage proposal, has long been advocating for a ‘fair wage’. “The agreement identifies the benchmark contract in each sector, effectively defining the benchmark for a fair wage and combating ‘pirate’ contracts. In fact, every contract must specify its scope of application and its correspondence with the Ateco codes, and an Observatory will monitor any improper extensions or overlaps. The tools are in place. Now the measurement methods must be defined through inter-confederal agreements by December, and that is when we will see how robust the system is,” concludes Fumarola.