Social Pacts in Italy: July 22, 1993
Agreement
PERIOD: 1993
SIGNATORY PARTIES: Prime Minister C.A.Ciampi; Labour Minister
G. Giugni; secretaries general of the CGIL,
CISL and UIL; 25 employers
associations.
GOALS OF THE PACT: inflation control, new system of collective
bargaining structure, recognition of the new system
of trade union representation in the workplace.
MATTERS AGREED:
Incomes policy: control of inflation as a system to protect
real wages (indication of a projected inflation rate — instead
of running after real inflation- that the social partners must refer
to in collective bargaining); concerted action on keeping the
deficit and the public debt under control (through meeting with the
social partners twice a year before preparation of the budget law
in May and its discussion in parliament (in September));
agreement
on
a system of concerted monitoring concerning wages, prices and
tariffs; annual report on employment (prepared by the government
in May, to better evaluate active employment policies to be
implemented).
Collective bargaining: the new collective bargaining structure
has two levels: 1) the national contract of four years duration dealing
with the permanent norms and a two-year renewal of wage
negotiation; 2) company/sectoral level bargaining linked to
productivity increases.
A new indexation system, only to compensate for delays in contract
renewals in the private as well as in the public sector (equal to
30% of the projected inflation rate for delays up to 3 months,
50% for longer delays).
RSUs (union plant representatives), incorporation of the
interconfederal agreement: union representatives in the workplaces
are elected by the proportional system, with 2/3 of the delegates
elected by all workers and 1/3 reserved for union representatives
that have signed collective agrements. The RSUs are entitled to
negotiation.
Employment policies: reform of the labour market, reform
of hiring practices for the disabled, indication of periodical meetings
government-social partners; reform of the Wage Supplement Fund (for
company crisis and restructuring); reform of the unemployment
benefit (raised to 40% of the previous salary); extension of the
so-called shock absorbers (i.e. the Wage Supplement Fund) to the
tertiary sector. New rules for apprenticeship; new rules for
employment and training contracts for young job seekers; enhancement
of affirmative action and equal opportunity; introduction of
temporary work agencies.
Fiscal policy: Tax relief for investments in research and
other measures.
Education/vocational training: compulsory schooling age raised to
16 years and new rules for vocational training.
New policy for tarifs.
Public administration: national contracts for the public
sector will be renewed every four years, starting from 1994; new
hiring
procedures for young executives, new procedures for
information/consultation with the unions; establishment of an agency
in charge of collective bargaining (ARAN).
BACKGROUND: In March 1993, Prime Minister Amato summoned the
social partners and launched the idea of a social pact, mainly concerning
incomes policy and
reform of collective bargaining. The three confederations’
list of demands included: the selection of a permanent seat for the
incomes policy negotiation; a new structure of collective
bargaining on two levels, with the national level in charge of the
safeguard of the real wages and the second (company/sectoral level)
in charge of fair distribution of productvity increases; a new
mechanism of partial indexation of wages in case of delay in
contract renewals; the official acknowledgement and application of
the union interconfederal agreement on the new union representation
structure in the workplace. In April, Prime Minister Amato
resigned. The new Prime Minister was Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, and the
new Labour Minister was Gino Giugni. The new social pact is
reached on 3 July, approved by 67% of workers
in a referendum and officially signed on 22 July in the Prime
Minister’s office.
INSTITUTIONS INVOLVED: The Prime Minister; the Labour Minister;
the three secretaries general of CGIL, CISL and UIL.
IMPACTS ON:
Employment: Very minor outcome in this field, though it must be
noted that it was not its major objective, while the 1996 Pact for
Employment was very active in promoting new employment
policies that ecreased unemployment.
Macroeconomic balance: a new system of incomes policy
Union strategy/policy: a new system of union
representation at the workplace level — after a decade, the
system is still well functioning (with some adjustments).
COMMENTS: This agreement created stable and recognized rules of
the game, regarding incomes policy and collective bargaining.
Social dialogue launched a process that had positive results. The
government action resulted in the July agreement was followed by
the 1995
pension system reform (workers’ organisations actively
participated in the social dialogue/concertation process that
brought about the new pension law).
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