The tone was set by a flash mob in downtown Rome on the morning of October 24th, where young activists dressed as cooks got a pan out and gave passers-by notes on which were sentences summarizing forgotten commitments as regards youth employment: “fares” young people are no longer willing to take, because “words don’t get you food.” Saying that young people are in a precarious situation, with “millions” being kicked out of the labor market because of the crisis and affected by the government’s budget cuts, the campaign wants to “free the new generation from the blackmail requiring that they are ready for anything to work.” They call for a cleanup of the “jungle” of contracts, making permanent contracts the “ordinary for of labor” and allowing temporary contracts only for ‘extraordinary circumstances’ and for 36 months maximum. They also want to put an end to the “rip-off contracts,” to “disposable work” (jobs on call, employment vouchers, staff leasing, bogus self-employment, occasional and project-based collaborations…). They also request that the only possible contract combining work and training be apprenticeships. Indeed, internships should only be for those who recently graduated and shouldn’t last more than six months or replace salaried labor. They also call for a guarantee of the rights and a monthly “payback” of at least €400. furthermore, in order to ensure that the most precarious, the most subject to unemployment, get social dampers, young people call for a reduction of the criterion governing the duration of contributions, and for the extension of unemployment benefits to “autonomous” contracts in the event of loss of earning for the primary contractor or several contractors. Finally, the CGIL’s youth advocate the extension of union rights to all workers in the company, regardless of their type of contract, and they notably ask for the right to elect Unitary Trade Union Representation Bodies (RSUs), to organize meetings, to vote for agreements, to join unions and to be included in their representativeness.
primary contractor or several contractors. Finally, the CGIL’s youth advocate the extension of union rights to all workers in the company, regardless of their type of contract, and they notably ask for the right to elect Unitary Trade Union Representation Bodies (RSUs), to organize meetings, to vote for agreements, to join unions and to be included in their representativeness.
Planet Labor, October 27, 2011, No. 110650 – www.planetlabor.com
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