On 16 January 2007, the Italian sectoral trade unions representing workers in the metalworking sector renewed the company agreement with management at Electrolux, the world’s largest manufacturer of household appliances. The renewal of the agreement will affect some 10,000 workers in Italy. Among the main features of the agreement are limitations regarding results-oriented premiums in the use of atypical workers, along with a new set of rules concerning holiday time.
Electrolux is a Swedish-based international corporation, which in the past years has taken over a large number of other household appliances companies, among the best-known of which are AEG, Zanussi, REX, Zoppas and McCulloch. The Electrolux group is the world’s largest manufacturer of household appliances for the home and for professional applications. It operates 22 manufacturing plants in Europe and its home appliances brands account for 25% of the world market. In 2005, Electrolux posted sales figures amounting to SEK 129 billion (over €13.9 billion as at 13 April 2007). The company employs some 80,000 workers worldwide.
On 16 January 2007, the Electrolux company agreement – which had expired in 2004 – was renewed for the company’s 10,000 employees in Italy. The agreement was signed by representatives of the Electrolux Italia group and by the national, regional and provincial secretaries of the Italian Federation of Metalworkers (Federazione Italiana Metalmeccanici, Fim-Cisl), the Italian Federation of White-collar and Blue-collar Metalworkers (Federazione Impiegati Operai Metallurgici, Fiom-Cgil) and the Italian Metalworkers’ Union (Unione Italiana Lavoratori Metalmeccanici, Uilm-Uil).
Provisions of new agreement
The renewed agreement consists of a range of provisions, including those concerning working conditions, employment and premium schemes. Moreover, the Electrolux group has committed itself to improving its Italian manufacturing facilities by investing at least €80 million over the 2006–2008 period.
Working conditions
In relation to working conditions, the following provisions have been agreed upon:
- A census will be taken of all repetitive jobs. This will form part of the remit of an ad hoc Special Joint Commission, which will be charged with gathering information on the organisational innovations introduced, evaluating any effects they may have, and proposing improvements and ways to promote professional training and advancement among the workforce. The deadline for completion of the commission’s work is the end of September 2007.
- From 2007 onwards, the manufacturing plants are to remain in operation even during the summer. Workers are entitled to three weeks’ holiday time between June and September; this should include at least two successive weeks for the majority of workers. The remainder of holiday time is to be determined by mutual agreement at each manufacturing facility.
- With regard to production flexibility, the regulations call for a ceiling of 64 hours a year in overtime or multi-week cycles. The extra hours are to be paid on the basis of a flexibility reward of €2 for each hour worked.
- The right to ‘leave of absence aimed at promoting family unity’ has been confirmed for non-EU workers employed under an open-ended contract; this covers continued periods of absence from work lasting up to a maximum of 50 calendar days.
Employment contracts
- respect to employment contracts, a ceiling has been set concerning the use of atypical work contracts (limited term or limited-term administration); this ceiling amounts to a maximum of 16% of the total number of open-ended employment contracts for each manufacturing facility.
Results-oriented premiums
The salary provisions of the agreement include the following provisions regarding the renewal of the premium schemes:
- A results-oriented premium, known as ‘Boden’, amounting to €899 for 2006.
- Consolidation of the old results-oriented premium, now called the ‘productivity premium’, and amounting to a net monthly payment of €78, paid out to all workers including those on atypical work contracts. By its very nature, this premium does not count towards overall retribution and is not counted when calculating severance pay.
- The creation of a plant-specific, results-oriented premium (STB) amounting to €1,034 for 2007 and €1,174 for 2008. This premium is to be paid to all workers in the form of monthly advances of €69 in 2007 and €78 in 2008. The remainder will be calculated and paid in July for each reference year. This premium includes the effects relative to all legal and contractual requirements.
- The creation of a results-oriented premium linked to the profitability of all of the Italian production facilities, known as the PRF, amounting to an average of €415 a year. An advance on this premium, equivalent to 70% of the expected result, is to be paid out in March of each year, with the remainder payable in July. Only workers with an open-ended contract can benefit from this premium. As with the STB, the PRF will also have validity for all legal and contractual questions.
Furthermore, the agreement provides for the setting up of an ad hoc financial commission whose remit is to define, by the end of 2007, a detailed project aimed at reforming the participation system. This commission will be composed of six experts appointed by company management and by a further six experts assigned by the national secretaries of Fim, Fiom and Uilm.
Reactions to agreement
Trade union representatives have assessed the agreement positively, inasmuch as it corresponds to the demands made in July 2006 and in the way that it ‘strengthens the role of the Italian plants within the group, enhances and confirms the role of the Rsu worker representative bodies [unitary trade union representation body (Rappresentanze sindacali unitarie, Rsu)] and collective bargaining on working conditions and working time, redistributes to workers part of the growth in productivity, and introduces – on an experimental basis – the possibility of agreeing on ways to stagger summer vacations’.
The company agreement was approved by the workers in several referendums which took place between 31 January 2006 and 2 February 2007.
Vilma Rinolfi, Cesos