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In November 1998, trade unions and the public sector bargaining agency, Aran, signed a national collective agreement for employees of regional and local authorities and other local bodies.
On 4 November 1998, the national collective agreement for employees of regional and local authorities and other local bodies was renewed, the latest in a series of renewals of public sector agreements (IT9808329F). The deal for local bodies was signed on the employers' side by the public sector bargaining agency, Aran (Agenzia per la rappresentanza negoziale delle pubbliche amministrazioni) and on the employees' side by the sectoral confederal unions, Fp-Cgil, Fist-Cisl and Uil-Enti locali, and the autonomous unions Confsal, Cisal and Ugl. The agreement covers issues such as the redefinition of the job classification system, the reduction of working time and the introduction of a system of incentives.
Under the new agreement, the sector's industrial relations and bargaining system now has three coordinated levels. Besides national sectoral bargaining there is also:
- complementary decentralised bargaining for every single local body; and
- complementary decentralised bargaining, at territorial level, involving more than one local body.
Complementary decentralised bargaining at local level will be responsible for:
- definition of a system of incentives for personnel;
- vocational training programmes;
- definition of guidelines for the improvement of the working environment;
- management of organisational and technological innovations, of the demand for services by citizens and of its consequences for the quality of work and for staff qualifications;
- guidelines for the management of working hours; and
- management of redundant staff and personnel mobility.
Complementary decentralised bargaining at territorial level is a new bargaining level and it allows for the issues which may be negotiated for individual bodies (see above) also to be negotiated for a number of small bodies operating in the same geographical area. This will most frequently concern employees of small municipalities or of healthcare service providers
Complementary collective agreements at both local and territorial level will last for four years.
The agreement also lays down information and cooperation/dialogue ("concertation") procedures. The information procedures concern general subjects such as administration and allocation of resources, working relationships, organisation of offices, human resources management, technological innovation, outsourcing, and termination or transformation of obsolete activities. These procedures are made general at all levels and information will have to be supplied every year.
Concertation between trade union organisations and administrations has also been general at all levels. The social partners must decide together on:
- the opening hours of offices to the public;
- timetables of schools and kindergartens;
- criteria for personnel transfers from one service to another;
- employment trends; and
- general criteria for workers' mobility within services and structures.
The other main provisions of the new agreement are as follows:
- the introduction of a cooling-off period in the event of disputes. Neither side is allowed to take unilateral initiatives or to take industrial action during the first month of negotiations over agreements at the various levels, or during the concertation procedures;
- a national average monthly pay increase of ITL 90,000, paid in two instalments in July and November 1999. Further pay increases of up to 1% of paybill may be negotiated at decentralised level, but only if the individual body is able to fund this from its own resources;
- from 31 December 1999, the resources available to pay for overtime work will be reduced. Overtime may not exceed 180 hours per worker per year. The partners will meet at least three times per year to find solutions aimed at allowing a progressive and stable reduction of the use of overtime in every individual local body;
- a commitment to improve the quality and the quantity of the services offered to citizens. Objectives for the improvement of services will be negotiated every year, and their fulfilment will be linked to individual incentives. These incentives will be financed by a fund containing the the resources saved from the reduced use of overtime, plus a contribution of 0.52% of the total annual paybill. The negotiation of the objectives will have to take into consideration initiatives aimed at the development of human resources;
- a new job classification system, set out in a protocol agreed on 7 July 1998, is made operational. Workers will be divided into four "macro-occupational areas" that will include the existing eight levels;
- employees whose work schedule comprises more than one shift and is subject to planning over a number of weeks, will benefit from a reduction in working time to 35 hours per week;
- vocational training will be supported, and existing funds for this purpose should be increased through collective bargaining; and
- bipartite committees and observatories will be created in the areas of work organisation, environment, health and safety at work and social services. An observatory may also be established to deal with financial problems linked with reorganisation, such as mobility, possible redundancies and transfers of management and functions.
The partners also committed themselves to negotiating, in the month after the signature of the agreement, all the subjects that had not been dealt with so far, including fixed-term contracts and complementary occupational pensions.
Angelo Piazza, the minister of the public function, Enzo Bianco, president of the Association of Italian Municipalities (Associazione Nazionale Comuni Italiani, Anci) and representatives of all the trade unions which took part in the negotiations are extremely satisfied with the agreement reached. The final agreement should be signed within a month.