National pay agreement signed for food and beverage sector

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In September 2005, trade unions and the sectoral employers’ association in the Italian food and beverage sector signed a renewal of the pay part of their national collective agreement, covering 2005-7. The agreement provides for an average monthly pay increase of EUR 96 and a one-off payment of EUR 160.

On 17 September 2005, the sectoral trade union organisations affiliated to the General Confederation of Italian Workers (Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro, Cgil), the Italian Confederation of Workers’ Unions (Confederazione Italiana Sindacato Lavoratori, Cisl) and the Union of Italian Labour (Unione Italiana del Lavoro, Uil) representing the workers of the food and beverage sector - respectively Federazione agro-alimentare, Fai-Cisl, Federazione dei lavoratori dell’agro-industria, Flai-Cgil and Unione italiana lavoratori agroalimentare, Uila-Uil - and the Italian food and drink industry, (Federazione Italiana dell’Indusria Alimentare, Federalimentare) sectoral employers’ association signed the renewal of the national collective agreement, which expired on 31 May 2005 in terms of pay provisions, for the two-year period 2005-2007.

According to the Italian bargaining structure, industry-wide bargaining at national level defines agreements lasting for four years in terms of their normative provisions and two years in terms of their pay provisions. At the end of the first two-year period, pay provisions are re-negotiated in order to recovery the possible difference between programmed inflation and real inflation of the previous two-year period and to anticipate the portion of salary necessary to maintain wages’ purchasing power for the subsequent two-year period in relation to the relative programmed inflation.

The agreement signed for the food and beverage industry covers about 300,000 workers and provides for an average monthly pay increase of EUR 96 (EUR 40 in September 2005, EUR 40 in March 2006 and EUR 16 in March 2007), against EUR 106 requested by the trade unions. According to the trade unions the 6.3% pay increase 'guarantees the full and real recovery of wage purchasing power and guarantees to the workers of the food and beverage industry an adeguate pay to face the recent remarkable increases'.'Moreover, it valorises the role of the national collective agreement in a difficult moment for the Italian economy.'

The agreement provides also for a one-off payment (una tantum) of EUR 160 to be paid in October 2005 to compensate employees for the delay (June -August 2005), in renewal after the expiry of the preceding agreement.

It is the first delay of this kind in the food and beverage sector. Usually, agreements have always been renewed in two-three months. In fact, fourteen years have passed since the last strike in this sector was organised. After such a long time the first strike was called in July 2005 and saw workers’ refusal in performing flexible and overtime work causing the slow down of the industrial activity during the peak period of activity in the summer season.

According to Giorgio Pastrello, national secretary of Fai-Cisl the renewal of the agreement was 'long and difficult'. Stopping flexibilities and overtime work during the summer season represented a successful way of putting pressure to companies.

According to Stefano Mantegazza, secretary general of Uila-Uil 'the trade unions have achieved an incredible result because they managed to obtain the same pay increase which was obtained two years ago in a much more favourable economic situation.'

The agreement was signed by the all the federations affiliated to Federalimentari, only the national association of preserved food and vegetables (Associazione Nazionale Industriali Conserve Alimentari Vegetali, Anicav) and the National poultry and eggs interprofessional association (Unione nazionale dell’avicoltura, Una) did not agree upon the negotiated solutions. The trade unions have therefore decided to organise actions of protest in both sectors by stopping flexible work, overtime work and additional work. They have also called 24 hours of strike. The first eight hours were organised on 23 September and saw the suspension of the activities in the plant.

Sources: Conquiste del lavoro 20 September 2005, www.ildiariodellavoro.it (19 e 22 September 2005), Uila, Fai, Flai comunicato stampa del 17 September 2005, testo dell’accordo

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