Italy: unitary platforms approved for the renewal of collective agreements in chemistry-pharmacy, rubber-plastic, energy-oil, and gas-electricty

Following the guidelines approved on May 22 (see our dispatch No.  120346), all the platforms call for an industrial policy “able to revive growth and employment,” environmentally sustainable production, improving research and innovation, stabilizing employment – via continuous education and apprenticeship as the main path to access employment –, improving social policies, both for foreplanning and for supplementary health insurance – including the increase in employers’ contributions and enrolment immediately upon recruitment for young people, regardless of their contract, with the pension funds and supplementary health insurance –, a wage increase ranging between 7 and 9 percent.  To improve social responsibility and worker participation, the recommend involving workers in the company’s managing bodies.  This is especially true for the oil and gas-water platforms, “because of the strategic importance of the sector’s businesses.”  Regarding safety, they want employee representatives for health and safety (RLSs) and unitary trade union representation bodies (RSUs) to be more involved in certification procedures and risk management, more training hours on safety, and to improve provisions on prevention in company agreements.  Besides, in gas-water and electricity-energy, they are inviting the Confindustria Energia, Federutility, Assogas, Federestrattiva and Anfida employers’ organizations to reopen talks to determine a single agreement for the energy and water system “safeguarding the specificity of each segment market.”  In these sectors, they are also calling for an increase in negotiated variable pay and lowering the part businesses unilaterally determine.