Renewal of collective agreement at Banca d’Italia

In April 2006, Italy’s main trade union organisations representing the banking sector and Banca d’Italia renewed the central bank’s national collective agreement. Key aspects of the renewed agreement include pay increases, removal of the bank’s authority over unilateral decisions concerning employees, supplementary bargaining for newly recruited workers, the introduction of flexible forms of employment and internet access for all workers.

On 27 April 2006, the national collective agreement (contratti collettivi nazionali di lavoro, CCNL) of Banca d’Italia was renewed. The renewed agreement was signed by Italy’s central bank, Banca d’Italia, and six of the seven sectoral trade unions. The six unions comprised the three sectoral trade union organisations, Fiba, Fisac and Uilca, affiliated to the three main union confederations – the Italian Confederation of Workers’ Unions (Confederazione Italiana Sindacato Lavoratori, Cisl), the General Confederation of Italian Workers (Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro, Cgil) and the Union of Italian Workers (Unione Italiana del Lavoro, Uil); the two independent unions of Italy’s central bank, the Federazione Autonoma Lavoratori Banca d’Italia (Falbi-confsal) and the Sindacato Indipendente Banca Centrale (Sibc) affiliated to the Italian Confederation of Autonomous Workers’ Unions (Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Autonomi Lavoratori, Cisal); and the Confederation for Managerial and Professional Staff (Confederazione Italiana dei Dirigenti e delle Alte Professionalitá, Cida). The six signatory trade union organisations represent 94% of unionised employees at Banca d’Italia, and the agreement covers about 8,000 employees working at the bank.

The agreement, which had not been renewed since 31 December 2001, expired in 2005.

Provisions of new agreement

The new agreement provides for a 4.7% pay increase, or €100–€110 extra gross income per month, in addition to a one-off measure (una tantum) amounting to 2.28% of employees’ annual gross income. The latter measure will be paid in accordance with the company’s level of productivity and efficiency.

New forms of flexible employment are being introduced in line with the labour market reforms (IT0303103N). On-call employment and shift work are also to be regulated.

Another important change provided for by the agreement concerns recognition of the validity of collective bargaining with regard to the employment relationship. On this basis, Banca d’Italia will no longer be able to take unilateral decisions and to modify the contractual and regulatory measures concerning its employees.

The social partners have also taken into consideration young and newly recruited workers, with regard to improving access to supplementary pension funds. The bank has agreed to pay a higher contribution to the fund (3.9% of workers’ pay for 2004–2006; 4.2% for 2007). In addition, the company and trade unions have agreed on an additional ‘solidarity’ contribution to the fund for younger workers, for 2005, which will equal 1.64% of the one-off productivity bonus (the portion used to calculate the end-of-service allowance (trattamento di fine rapporto, TFR)).

The agreement also promotes modernisation of the company’s work processes, through its provision of internet access for all workers.

Reactions of the trade unions

Trade unions expressed their satisfaction with the renewed agreement. The only organisation that appeared to be disappointed with the negotiations and the agreement was the Independent Italian Banking Federation (Federazione autonoma bancati italiani, Fabi), which did not sign the agreement.

Secretary General of Falbi-Confsal, Luigi Leone, explained that the signing of such a positive agreement, especially from a regulatory point of view, can be attributed to ‘a new climate of industrial relations’. In particular, Mr Leone expressed his appreciation for the ‘contractualisation’ of the employment relationship which, in his opinion, is highly significant for all Banca d’Italia employees. He also praised the company’s decision to schedule a new meeting with the union before June 2006, in order to discuss the company’s strategic objectives.

The agreement was also praised for the attention given towards younger workers, as reflected in the provisions for supplementary pensions.

Further reform

Mario Draghi, Governor of Banca d’Italia, said that he was very satisfied with the new agreement. He alluded to another important change still to be implemented at the bank, namely the reform of the central bank’s statute, as required by the new law on savings. Mr Draghi explained that a specific committee has been set up to deal with the issue of reforming the bank’s statute and that rapid progress is being made in this respect. However, he indicated that it was ‘advisable to wait for the new government and the new president of the republic to take office, because these two institutions are essential for the approval and implementation of the reform’.

Marta Santi, Cesos