On 14 January 2010, an agreement was signed between the trade unions and the management of the Piaggio-Aprilia manufacturing plant in the town of Scorzè in the northeastern province of Venice. The agreement concerns the use of solidarity contracts or subsidised short-time working schemes for one year. It will involve 382 out of 393 workers in the plant and avails of an instrument designed to protect jobs that is little used by companies in Italy.
The Piaggio Group is the leading European manufacturer of two and three-wheeled vehicles in Europe. In 2005, the group bought Aprilia, a famous motorcycle company specialised, above all, in the production of racing bicycles. The group maintained the original brand name. The two companies have similar production lines, so time was needed to reorganise production in the plants in order to avoid the manufacture of excessively similar models, scooters in particular.
In 2009, the Piaggio Group registered growth of 1.7% in the Italian market for two-wheeled vehicles, reaching a share of 30.2%. Nevertheless, the economic crisis that has hit the sales of motor vehicles in the last two years has caused a decline in production levels for the group and the need for social shock absorbers (ammortizzatori sociali) (IT9802319F, IT0205204F).
The Aprilia plant in the town of Scorzè, in the northeastern province of Venice, employs 393 workers and assembles motor vehicles, motor bicycles and scooters. However, since November 2008, it has had to make use of the Wages Guarantee Fund (Cassa Integrazione Guadagni, CIG) to cope with the market crisis.
On 14 January 2010, representatives of the Piaggio Group signed an agreement on the adoption of solidarity contracts with the representatives of the unitary workplace union structure (Rappresentanze Sindacali Unitarie, RSU) and the trade union organisations present in the plant: the Federation of White-collar and Blue-collar Metalworkers (Federazione Impiegati Operai Metalmeccanici, Fiom) and the Italian Metalworkers’ Federation (Federazione Italiana Metalmeccanici, Fim).
Details of agreement
The solidarity contracts will be used for 12 months starting from February 2010, with the possibility of extending them further. They will be adopted for 382 workers, whose working hours will decrease to a maximum of 50% of the 40 hours a week stipulated in their employment contract.
The reductions will normally apply to daily working time. However, in order to facilitate the work organisation, reductions could be organised on a weekly basis. In this latter case, the modification of working hours will be discussed in monthly meetings between the RSU and the company; should there be any changes, the worker concerned must be informed in the week preceding the new working schedule.
The salary of the worker, which will be lower due to the reduction in working hours, will be combined with a sum that corresponds to 80% of the salary that has not been earned. This supplement will be paid by the National Social Security Institute (Istituto Nazionale per la Previdenza Sociale, INPS); the company will anticipate the amount involved on a monthly basis. The supplementary amount will be calculated by considering the salary that the worker was receiving immediately preceding the adoption of the solidarity contracts.
Up until 2008, the supplement was calculated based on 60% of the unearned salary, but Law 102/2009 (in Italian) on anti-crisis measures raised the level to 80% for 2009 and 2010. The trade unions intend to argue for maintaining this proportion after the end of 2010.
The agreement also envisages maximum flexibility in the management of production lines, introducing the possibility to move workers from one line to another according to the specific production requirements at the time. In these cases, the RSU must be informed beforehand.
The actors will discuss the measures outlined in the agreement and predictions regarding production volumes in the plant at meetings every three months.
Trade union reaction
Secretary General of the Veneto branch of Fim, Michele Zanocco, has underlined the importance of the solidarity contracts:
‘all the employees will be present at the workplace and, therefore, will not lose contact with their place of work so maintaining their professional skills and helping to guarantee productivity and quality’.
Commentary
Solidarity contracts represent one of the most effective social shock absorbers for a number of reasons. From a professional point of view, workers can maintain daily contact with the workplace and continue to carry out their duties, although working fewer hours.
From a social perspective, the salary reduction for workers will be more sustainable. The part of the salary lost due to a reduction in working hours will be replaced by calculating on the basis of the actual salary of the worker rather than considering the maximum levels allowed, for example, by the CIG. If the replacement income is maintained at 80% rather than 60% of the salary, the negative effects on the workers’ standard of living will be less serious.
Finally, from an economic point of view, the solidarity contracts will make it possible to keep production lines working – albeit at reduced rates – thereby also maintaining related activities. Furthermore, the company will benefit from tax relief.
Despite all of the benefits, solidarity contracts are little used in Italy compared with other alternatives. There are many possible reasons for this situation. Solidarity contracts, for example – unlike the CIG – require a certain economic effort by the company, which must keep the plant open and pay salaries, albeit at reduced levels. Furthermore, the setting up of solidarity contracts requires more trade union involvement than other measures such as the CIG.
Vilma Rinolfi, Cesos