Italy: mechanical engineering and metalworking unions put forward common platform of demands ahead of the renewal of the national collective agreement

It is the first time in twelve years that the FIOM-Cgil, FIM-Cisl and UILM unions have proposed a common platform, after the great divide between the union centrals, over the reform of the collective bargaining model that led the metalworking federation of the Cgil, which was opposed to this reform, to refuse to sign the 2009 and 2013 collective agreements. The national collective agreement penned in November 2016 (see article no. 9941), which expires on December 31, 2019, marked a return to unity among the unions and a turning point in social relations, both in terms of methods of calculating inflation for wage increases as well as the agreement’s innovative training and welfare measures. The unions are now demanding: a minimum wage increase of 8% over the period between 2020 and 2022; greater worker participation through advisory committees; mechanisms to promote generational renewal; new systems for evaluating skills, with a skills assessment for each employee; and an increase of so-called ‘flexible benefits’ from 200 euros at present to 250 euros. The platform of common demands, approved on 4 September by the respective leaderships at the trade unions and submitted in recent days for a vote by workers, also gives pride of place to training. Having observed that “the vast majority of mechanical and metal companies have not truly applied the individual right to training” provided for in the 2016 national collective agreement (see article no. 10927), the unions are proposing initiatives to make this measure truly effective, including for older and lower-skilled workers.