Italy: it seems that the majority of unions have accepted the layoff reform

The interpretation of new Article 18 of the Statute of Workers is not unanimous.  The management of the CGIL, gathered on April 19 and the management of the Cisl, gathered the day before, confirmed that they were pleased with the government backtracking on the reform of Article 18 on the reinstatement of workers who were unfairly laid off.  Indeed, in the bill on the labor market reform, Mario Monti accepted to introduce the possibility to reinstate employees laid off for economic reasons which are clearly nonexistent (see our dispatch No.  120227).  Unions see this as the first major consequence of their mobilization against the reform.  As far as progress goes, they also point to the fact that the burden of proof remains on the employer and to the prior conciliation procedure for economic layoffs, “allowing for effective union intervention,” as the CGIL put it.  The Cisl said that this procedure, and the fact that the judge “can arrange the reinstatement,” both when the economic reason is “clearly nonexistent” and “if, during the trial, it seems (…) that the economic reason is hiding discriminatory or disciplinary reasons,” offer “more important guarantees” than the initial reform and maintain Article 18’s “deterrent role,” on which the CGIL really insisted.  Although, many labor lawyers pointed out that, in practice, the “burden of proof” is going from employers to workers.  Actually, Monti said that reinstatement would only be maintained for “extreme, unlikely cases.”  The Fiom’s analysis is similar – it said that the reinstatement being back is only a “mirage.”  With the left wing of the CGIL, it still says that the reform of Article 18 is “unacceptable” and remains highly mobilized against the reform, calling on the Confederation to call for a general strike before the law is passed.