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In November 2004, a collective agreement was signed to regulate the employment conditions of workers at the businesses trading at Outlet Village, a new shopping centre situated in the province of Arezzo, Tuscany. The deal, signed by the region's main commerce and services trade unions, the management of the shopping centre, and the local Association of Trade, is the first of its kind in Italy. Its conclusion was assisted by an agreement signed in 2002 between the social partners and the Tuscany regional administration that promotes dialogue and consultation among the social partners over the opening of large shopping centres.
In Italy, the retail and services sector is fragmented among numerous branches and sub-branches. Employment relationships are highly heterogeneous - ranging from small family-run shops to hypermarkets owned by large retail groups - and they are regulated at national level by a single industry-wide collective agreement, last renewed in July 2004 (IT0407108F). In 2003, there were 1,975,000 employees in the sector - according to figures from the General Italian Confederation of Trade, Tourism, Services and SMEs (Confederazione generale italiana del commercio, del turismo, dei servizi e delle PMI, Confcommercio).
In the past 15 years in Italy, as in Europe, the sector has been undergoing reorganisation, switching from small shops to a broader presence of large retail companies (TN0407101S). This process of change notwithstanding, around two-thirds of workers in the sector continue to be employed in businesses with fewer than 10 employees (Eurostat figures for 2001) and in which the level of unionisation is decidedly low. The sector is also characterised by the relatively widespread use of 'non-standard' employment contracts, linked mainly to the seasonal character of certain businesses and to the need for a large amount of working time flexibility, particularly as regards Sunday opening hours and the definition of weekly shifts (IT0407108F).
Regional agreement
An agreement was signed in 2002 by the Tuscany regional administration (Regione Toscana), the National Association of Italian Municipalities (Associazione nazionale comuni italiani, Anci), the Regional Union of the Tuscan Provinces (Unione regionale delle province toscane, Urpt) and the regional social partners in retail, which 'regulates employment relationships in inter-regional commerce sites' (like shopping centres). Through this agreement, the Tuscany regional administration set out its intention to pursue economic growth and employment creation 'by means of dialogue, social concertation, and correct relations between the social partners'. The priorities set by the agreement are development of a high-quality commercial network that is economically and socially sustainable, and compliance with all regulations on employment conditions and with national-level collective agreements. The regional government has therefore established a framework in which to devise standard rules to regulate the employment relationships of workers in businesses operating shops, commercial outlets and services in large retail centres.
The agreement defines the actions that the social partners, the regional and provincial institutions, and the local authorities must undertake when authorisation is given to open a large retail centre in Tuscany. It provides in particular for the activation by the regional government of social concertation negotiations involving representatives of the social partners and the companies involved in the shopping centre. Social concertation will accompany and monitor the design, construction and operation of large retail centres. Negotiations should centre on employment, working hours, paid rest and weekends off, training, workplace health and safety, equal opportunities, trade union rights, labour disputes and procurement.
Outlet Village agreement
On the basis of the guidelines set out in the 2002 regional agreement, during the first week of November 2004, an agreement concerning the employees of a new Outlet Village factory outlet shopping centre to open in 2005 at Foiano della Chiana in the province of Arezzo was signed by: the Italian Federation of Workers in Commerce, Tourism and Services (Federazione italiana lavoratori commercio turismo e servizi, Filcams) affiliated to the General Confederation of Italian Workers (Confederazione generale italiana del lavoro, Cgil); the Italian Federation of Unions for Service, Commercial and Tourism Workers (Federazione italiana sindacati addetti servizi commerciali affini e turismo, Fisascat) affiliated to Italian Confederation of Workers' Unions (Confederazione italiana sindacati lavoratori, Cisl); the Italian Union of Workers - Tourism and Services (Unione italiana lavoratori - Turismo terziario e servizi, Uiltucs) affiliated to the Union of Italian Workers (Unione italiana del lavoro, Uil); the Outlet srl company; and the Association of Trade of the province of Arezzo (Associazione dei commercianti della provincia di Arezzo). The main points of the agreement are as follows:
- the hiring of all workers at the shopping centre - not only those in commercial businesses but also service workers (ie cleaning, maintenance and security staff) - must be in accordance with the provisions of the relevant national sectoral collective agreement;
- a director will be appointed at the shopping centre to supervise implementation of the agreement. He or she will also have a representation role;
- on request by the trade unions and the employers’ association, weekly meetings will be held to monitor employment and its quality at the centre. The trade union representatives at the shopping centre will be allocated premises where they can provide assistance and services to workers;
- three health and safety delegates will be appointed to perform the functions established by law and collective bargaining with regard to workplace health and safety;
- a calendar of shop opening and closing days will be established, with the possibility of Sunday opening throughout the year. Sunday workers will receive the bonuses established by industry-wide agreements;
- contracts for services to the outlet centre will be allocated according to the lowest bid system and they must comply with the relative national-level agreements and any supplementary agreements signed by the most representative organisations; and
- for all employees, within 120 days of their being hired, the territorial joint bodies (enti bilaterali) will arrange 16-hour training courses on organisational and logistical aspects of the shopping centre, the rights and duties of workers, and workplace health and safety.
Reactions
The contents of the agreement and the method used to reach it have been considered entirely satisfactory by all the actors concerned. The mayor of Foiano della Chiana, who regards the agreement as confirming his municipality’s commitment to establishing a constant relationship among the businesses involved in the opening of the shopping centre, has declared that 'this agreement helps create a positive climate which, thanks to social concertation, will favour the definition of projects for the future and will have positive impacts in terms of employment and growth of the local economy.' According to the general secretary of the regional organisation of Filcams-Cgil, Dadila Angelici, 'the agreement has been made possible by the fact that, for the outlets, Sunday is the day of the week when they do most business. We have therefore exchanged Sunday opening for application of the national agreement and a series of other measure to protect the workers’ rights and general security.' Loredana Franco, general secretary of Fisascast-Cisl in the Lombardy region, describes the agreement for the Foiano della Chiana outlet centre as 'an important success, one of the first examples in the country of a single agreement which establishes a set of contractual guarantees for all workers employed in the same site (a large shopping centre). Constructive dialogue between the local institutions and the social partners has certainly been a decisive factor in the good result achieved.'
Commentary
The Italian retail and services sector is characterised by marked fragmentation (the majority of businesses have two or three employees), greater use than in other sectors of 'non-standard' forms of employment (for example, fixed-term contracts) and decidedly high levels of mobility and turnover (especially in tourism, where employment varies greatly according to the season). These various features account for the considerable difficulties encountered by trade unions in increasing their representativeness in the sector, so that protecting the rights of workers and their organisation is difficult.
The agreement reached for the Outlet Village at Foiano della Chiana - whose aim is to regulate employment relationships within a form of retail organisation (the factory outlet) only recently introduced in Italy - may provide the trade unions with an important example of gaining greater representativeness in a constantly expanding area such as large shopping centres. The fact that the single agreement reached for the Outlet Village is the first of this kind in Italy demonstrates the importance of dialogue and social concertation between the social partners and the regional institutions. In this case, the earlier conclusion of a regional concertation agreement that establishes rules on managing new initiatives to foster local economic growth (such as the creation of a large shopping centre) has enabled the parties involved to achieve a common and shared solution. (Diego Coletto, Fondazione Regionale Pietro Seveso)