It’s not just ecological transition and civil rights. Elly Schlein’s political agenda looks much more radical than that of her predecessors in the Democratic Party. The ambition we quote from the new secretary’s program is to “turn the page clearly after the errors in the ‘Labour Act’ and ‘Poletti decree’ regarding the facilitation of layoffs and the liberalization of fixed-term contracts”.
And again, says Schlein, “a close fight against precarity and exploitation is needed, by limiting the use of fixed-term contracts starting with very short-term ones, as in Spain. Unpaid extra-curricular internships should be abolished, and we should do just that. The Constitutional Court’s unfair dismissals to include the provisions regarding the regulation of the law”. Moreover, “we need a law of representation that cleanly sweeps the pirate contracts that doom entire industries to existential instability”.
Precarious work in Italy
Let’s stop here for now. What exactly is Elly Schlein planning to do? Let’s start by saying that precarity in business did not arise with the Jobs Act, but took root in the second half of the 90’s when more flexible contracts such as the so-called were introduced, with the intention of tackling noble unemployment. co.co.co (coordinated and continuing cooperation agreements) are for “subject” workers and other types of contracts to regulate fixed-term employment relationships.
Schlein does not mention co.co.co in his program and focuses on fixed-term contracts (for subordinate workers), insisting on the need to go beyond the controversial reform approved by the Renzi government. In fact, with the Poletti decree banning the temporary employment of more than 20% of the workers in companies with more than 5 employees, the duration of these contracts was increased to 36 months. The “dignity decree” signed by Di Maio later reduced the duration of such a contract to 12 months, with the possibility of up to 24 months, but only to deal with the need to replace an employee or an extraordinary and unscheduled increase in production. According to the legislation in force today, fixed-term contracts can be extended up to a maximum of 4 times, but the total duration cannot exceed two years in any way.
What does the reform that Schlein is looking at predict?
Schlein wants to continue and use this type of contract less often. The model to follow is the reform initiated by the socialist government in Spain. To counter growing insecurity in business labor reform in fact, it has reduced the duration of precarious agreements to only 6 months, which can only be extended to 12 in certain cases provided by collective agreements.
The “provisional type contract” has also been renamed “contract on conditions of production” and its use is restricted to the replacement of another worker or indeed to factors related to production (substantially the same conditions that allow extension in Italy). Finally, a sub-type of contract related to exceptional circumstances was created, which can be used for a maximum of 90 days per year.
In the first months of implementation, the reform produced positive (and partially predictable) effects, at least on the fight against precarity, according to data from the Ministry of Labour: if fixed-term contracts have represented an average of 30% in recent years, then in November the share from the forecast was 15.6%. However, the long-term effects will still be evaluated.
Returning to Italy, it is legitimate to assume that he wanted to introduce rules similar to those approved by the Spanish socialist government, although Schlein did not explain his intentions in detail. On the other hand, there are no proposals to remove co.co.co. However, the guiding star remains the fight against precarious and underpaid work.
What does Schlein want to do with Article 18?
What about Article 18? In her program, the Secretary of Dem underlines that the provisions of the Council on illegitimate dismissals should be “transposed into legislation”. The intention, although not fully explained, seems to comply with the Constitutional Court’s request to revise the Labor Code by “providing adequate protection” for workers in companies with less than 15 employees, because the employee count criterion is “not indicative”, but indicative of the effective economic strength of the employer. and does not provide important elements even in determining the amount of compensation”.
Schlein never made it clear that he wanted to reinstate Article 18 and outlaw unfair dismissals, while stating that “it was a mistake to facilitate layoffs under the Jobs Act” (as his rival Bonaccini did).
Free internships and pirate contracts
Another suggestion of the new dem secretary is to remove the unpaid internship. This point needs to be clarified. Currently, there are two types of internships: Curriculum internships, ie those carried out during the course of study coursework, and extra-curricular internships organized by the Regions and autonomous Provinces. Only the latter entitles you to compensation, the value of which is not less than 300 euros, but there are such great differences between Regions that cases of “abuse” of this tool are not uncommon at all.
Another aim of Schlein’s is the abolition of pirated contracts, that is, contracts signed by entrepreneurs and “small” unions, which often have insufficient protections and are paid downwards. The number of national contracts submitted to Cnel (the national economy and works council) is currently close to a thousand. There is therefore a need for a “representation law” that makes clear which unions have the power to negotiate on behalf of workers.
Minimum wage and 4-day working week
The minimum wage cannot be missed in Schlein’s Labor programme, a recommendation shared by the rest of the opposition with the dem base set at 9.5 euros gross. The novelty, if anything, is the proposal to also experiment in Italy with reduced working hours for the same salary. “The 4-day week – according to Schlein – can improve job quality and employment rate, restore people’s lifespan and well-being, promote productivity and reduce climate-altering emissions”.
There has been a lot of talk about the short week in recent months, especially after a pilot project launched in the UK involving 60 companies and around 3,000 employees. After three months of testing, 88% of participating companies said they were satisfied with the testing progress. In detail, 46% of companies said productivity had been kept “about the same level”, another 34% reported a “slight” improvement, and even 15% reported a “significant” increase in productivity. Other experiments of this kind are being carried out (or have been concluded) in other countries, but the reduction in working hours cannot really be said to have been caught.
Source: Today IT
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
