On 4 November 2006, a national demonstration was held in Rome against precarious employment, or the excessive use of atypical contracts in the Italian labour market. The protest was organised by voluntary associations, left-wing political parties of the current coalition government and trade unions. Both autonomous and rank-and-file unions as well as a number of national sectoral unions affiliated to the General Confederation of Italian Workers (Cgil) initially supported the demonstration. However, the demonstration resulted in internal conflict for Cgil.
Background
In Italy, atypical work is one of the main issues of debate among political parties and the social partners. In 2006, the number of new employees hired on atypical employment contracts has exceeded those on open-ended contract, according to a recent report by the Economic and Social Research Institute (Istituto di Studi e Ricerche Economiche e Sociali, Ires) and the Faculty of Communication Studies at the University of Rome. Lately, in an effort to draw attention to the issue among the parliamentary majority and the opposition party, Italy’s President, Giorgio Napolitano, stated that: ‘Precariousness is a serious problem. I hope that it will soon be addressed by parliament’.
Reasons for demonstration
Against this background, on 4 November 2006, a national demonstration ‘Stop precarious work now’ was held in Rome by a variety of organisations, left-wing political parties of the current government majority and a number of trade unions. The issue prompting the protest and uniting all the organisations to take part was the repeal of three laws enacted by the previous centre-right government: Law 30 known as the ‘Biagi Law’ (IT0307204F) reforming the labour market, the Moratti Law reforming the educational system (IT0304106F), and the Bossi-Fini Law reforming immigration policies (IT0209103F).
Organisations joining the protest
Among the political parties which took part in the demonstration were the Communist Refoundation Party (Partito della Rifondazione Comunista, PRC), the Italian Communist Party (Partito dei Comunisti Italiani, PdCI), the Green Party (Federazione dei Verdi, FV) and the Democratic Left Party (Democratici di sinistra, DS). In addition, numerous trade unions initially participated in the protest: three important sectoral confederations affiliated to the General Confederation of Italian Workers (Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro, Cgil), namely the Italian Federation of White-Collar and Blue-Collar Metalworkers (Federazione Italiana Operai Metalmeccanici, Fiom-Cgil), the Civil Service union (Funzione pubblica, Fp-Cgil) and the Federation of Knowledge Workers (Federazione lavoratori della conoscenza, Flc-Cgil) representing school personnel. Moreover, a varied group of autonomous unions was also present: the Rank-and-File Committees (Comitati di base, Cobas), the Intersectoral Union of Rank-and-File Committees (Sindacato intercategoriale dei comitati di base, Sincobas), the United Transport Workers Union (Sindacato unitario lavoratori dei trasporti, Sult), the National Workers’ Confederation (Confederazione nazionale dei lavoratori, CNL), as well as organisations active mainly in the public administration, school system, health service and transport sectors.
Call for resignation of labour minister
On the eve of the demonstration, a press release issued by Cobas and published in a well-known national newspaper as a paid advertisement directly attacked the 2007 Budget Law (IT0610029I), then in the process of being approved by parliament, and called for the resignation of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Cesare Damiano (former Deputy Secretary of Fiom-Cgil and then Head of labour policy in the DS). The press release caused a split in Cgil’s organising committee and the withdrawal of some participants. For example, the left-wing faction of the DS, Fp-Cgil and Flc-Cgil withdrew their support for the demonstration on the grounds that the initiative against Minister Damiano was an excessive and unjustifiable radicalisation of the situation.
However, Fiom-Cgil took part in the protest march in Rome on 4 November, alongside 150,000 demonstrators according to the organisers – although fewer numbers were reported by the police – even though Fiom criticised Cobas’s attack on Minister Damiano. Several deputy ministers and government undersecretaries from the three left-wing political parties (PRC, PdCI and FV) also took part in the demonstration.
Reaction to protest action
Reaction to the Rome protest march was varied. In the opinion of Prime Minister Romano Prodi, it was ‘a peaceful demonstration against precarious employment, not against the government’. He added: ‘we are committed to reducing precariousness so that it is used only in situations in which it is absolutely functional. The government, with Minister Damiano, is marching in this direction.’ For his part, Minister Damiano, after being strongly criticised by the autonomous unions, stated: ‘A radical revision of Law 30 is a priority for the government’.
This statement provoked an immediate reaction from the largest employer organisation, the General Confederation of Italian Industry (Confederazione Generale dell’Industria Italiana, Confindustria). The Vice-President of Confindustria, Alberto Bonbassei, announced that the organisation was adamantly opposed to any change to Law 30 and current legislation on temporary contracts, including a fixed-term contract and temporary-employment agency work.
The General Secretary of Cisl, Raffaele Bonanni, took a more neutral approach by stating: ‘The reasons were right. But the form was wrong, and the language was inappropriate to say the least’. An entirely different position was taken up by Sergio Cofferati, former General Secretary of Cgil and current Mayor of Bologna for the DS, who announced that ‘it is incomprehensible that members of the government took part in the march and contested Minister Damiano. Their presence was senseless; undersecretaries should have other opportunities where they can put their ideas forward’.
Conflict within Cgil
However, the main conflict arose within Cgil itself or, more specifically, between the confederation representing all the sectoral trade unions, on the one hand, and Fiom-Cgil, on the other hand, after it announced its intention to take part in the protest march.
The National Secretary of Fiom, Giorgio Cremaschi, disputed that the government had any real intention to conduct a significant revision of Law 30. ‘The Prodi–Damiano line,’ he declared, ‘is one of merely touching-up the law’, and he criticised Cgil, which, he stated, ‘was wrong not to take part in the demonstration […] Epifani preferred to play for time. By now he is affected by a “government friend” syndrome. So, in order not to embarrass his friend, he is hanging back. But he is making a serious error’.
General Secretary of Cgil, Guglielmo Epifani, responded angrily to Fiom’s decision in a speech to Cgil’s executive committee meeting on 21 and 22 November 2006. For General Secretary Epifani, ‘opposition internally to Cgil should not exceed, in behaviour and statements, the limits imposed on everyone in terms of compliance with the rules and values of Cgil’. He stated: ‘I reiterate that we are firmly committed to the struggle against precariousness. This is not to imply that we do not appreciate the content of the Budget Law, but it is not enough. It is only a starting point’. Again, according to the Cgil leader, the Budget Law should be welcomed for its reversal of approach, the principle of redistributive fairness of incomes, and its policies to combat illegal work.
The internal split experienced by Cgil was reflected in the vote taken on conclusion of the executive committee meeting: 63 votes were cast in favour of the majority document presented by Mr Epifani, while 21 votes were in favour of a minority document and 14 members abstained.
Commentary
The Rome demonstration against atypical work highlighted differences of opinion on the reform of the welfare system and the labour market not only among the parties forming the government coalition but also internally within Cgil, the largest Italian trade union confederation. The current political confrontation is due to the opposing views on reform measures. The minority group is more radical and calls for the repeal of the laws enacted by the previous Berlusconi government, while the majority group is more moderate and advocates partial revision of the laws.
In terms of this political conflict, January 2007 will see the beginning of two important negotiations between the government and the social partners on pensions and in relation to the labour market. The purpose of the latter will be to strengthen the system of social ‘shock absorbers’, guaranteeing atypical workers a social security system aligned with the standards set for workers on open-ended contracts, and also to revise the regulations on flexible contracts, restricting their improper and indiscriminate use.
Livio Muratore, Ires Lombardia