Italy: food sector takes action to foster gender equality and protect the environment

Social partners in Italy's food sector have signed two protocols in the space of just a few days. The first seeks to foster gender equality in the workplace, while the second aims to guide social relations in the sector towards environmental protection. These initiatives are all the more important because they concern a key sector for the country's economy: Made in Italy. Unione Italiana Food, the employer organisation that signed the deal, brings together some 550 companies, from pasta giant Barilla to leading coffee brands such as Lavazza and Illy, and mulitnationals Mondelez and Nestlé to players in the food supplements space.
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The two agreements signed by Unione Italiana Food and the Flai-Cgil, Fai-Cisl and UILA trade unions on 12 September (gender equality) and 14 September (sustainable development) represent a groundbreaking step in Italian industrial relations.

Gender policy and code of conduct. As regards gender equality, the social partners have drawn up two documents: a gender policy and a code of good conduct, which companies in the sector are invited to adopt. The principles set out are far from commonplace in

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