Fumarola (CISL): "The country needs an industrial policy, which has been lacking for a long time. Beware of token gestures in the budget."

Could the next budget become a Budget Bill made up of election gimmicks and handouts? “There’s every risk of that; we know how election campaigns work. But we’ve always said that we need to take on a different kind of responsibility at this stage. We are experiencing unprecedented events,” said UIL Secretary Daniela Fumarola at the Festival of Optimism. Speaking about the forthcoming budget, in an interview with Luca Roberto, the trade unionist said: “We are calling for the available resources to be focused on the middle class, on pensioners, and on businesses that create jobs. We believe it is important to exempt the thirteenth-month bonus from tax. And we must also address the issue of pensions,” she said. “Italy is facing a series of labour disputes that need to be tackled during this emergency. The country needs an industrial policy that allows these disputes to be addressed before they escalate.”

And it continues: "Our country is currently facing a series of disputes. We believe these must be tackled as a matter of urgency because they have arisen in an emergency, but we also believe that the country needs an industrial policy – which has been lacking for a long time – because it enables us to address these disputes before they escalate.” Therefore: “Emergency measures are all well and good, but we must look beyond them because these crises affect supply chains that we cannot do without and that we must protect, in the hope that the country will emerge from the current situation. We need a broad vision that we do not see, and the former Ilva site is a case in point. Through the succession of different governments, we have not seen a solution or a plan that lives up to our hopes, namely to defend steel production and make it environmentally sustainable.” 

Speaking of the other trade unions, some are fanning the flames of the ‘pizzas’ that are springing up across Europe. Are we in for a hot autumn? “The country’s forces for good must unite and stem the tide of extremism which, unfortunately, we have seen what it has led to in other countries such as Germany. Each of us must demonstrate a strong sense of responsibility, and now is the time to join forces towards shared objectives,” he says. Fumarola explains: “Doing that would mean appealing to people’s emotions rather than their reason. We must never capitalise on people’s anger.” And he announces: “We want to be a reformist and moderate trade union, and we have proposed a ‘green paper’ – that is, a set of ten key points which, in our view, need to be addressed. 120 points. We have offered this document to all political parties and institutions. So far we have received several requests for meetings, which we hope will lead to a pact on responsibility for growth and social cohesion. We have chosen these terms because we believe they are at the heart of the agenda,” he explained.

Fumarola then concluded the interview by responding to a question about the broad political spectrum and the possibility that next year figures with a more ‘lenient’ stance on the issue might come to power: “This possibility does not annoy me, it worries me. We must continue to offer unwavering support, including during the reconstruction process. We believe we must do this not only for them, but also for ourselves. We believe there is a need for a common defence. Achieving a just and lasting peace does not mean the surrender of those who have been attacked. We will continue along these lines.”