Under cover of darkness, the government repealed the minimum wage proposed by the opposition. Shortly after 10pm, in an environment that many MPs described as “unhealthy”, the amendment was approved by the centre-right, who had demanded in vain that the crucial session be held in a larger room, given the large number of their colleagues. The PDL proposed by the opposition is a law that enables the government.
Skip hourly minimum wage
Walter Rizzetto, the chairman of the labor commission, who signed the disturbing change, shortened response times to speed up the work and brought the result home. In simple terms, the government appropriates the minorities’ proposal but dilutes it with a list of good intentions by canceling the core part, namely the minimum hourly wage of nine euros per hour.
Government commitment
The approved text obliges the executive branch to legislate within six months through a series of decree laws aimed at “securing the implementation of the right of every worker to proportionate and adequate remuneration as guaranteed by Article 36 of the Constitution”; “to ensure fair and equitable remuneration for workers by strengthening collective bargaining and taking as reference the minimum general economic practices of the most widely applied national collective agreements”; “To promote the gradual development of second-level bargaining to cope with diversifying needs due to the increase in the cost of living and cost differences on a regional basis”. On this last point the opposition attacked the government for effectively reintroducing the old wage cages.
Barzotti (M5S): “A black page for the Parliament, they should be ashamed”
“What was written this evening is a black page for the Parliament,” says Valentina Barzotti, group leader of the 5-Star Movement in the Working Committee. Chairman Rizzetto interrupted the debate, made us work in an unhealthy environment throughout the entire process. Not all members were allowed to speak during the duration of the session and in the voting statement at the end. Substituting a delegation to the Government to replace our PDL to introduce the legal minimum wage sets a very dangerous precedent and This situation weakens its role. Shameful.”
“It’s a mockery made by the government to gain time”
As the M5S deputy explains, in addition to not setting the minimum hourly wage, the Rizzetto amendment effectively overrides the work of the two Houses and confirms the Meloni government’s tendency to centralize all decisions, proceeding with decrees and votes of confidence: “In doing so – explains Barzotti – the Houses abdicate their legislative role regarding wages is: a mockery useful only to gain time, given that the majority do not know how to resolve the issue. Introduce, as we do, a minimum legal threshold below which no collective agreement can fall. Our country will certainly do so, as 22 out of 27 other countries in Europe have The problem of wages and poor work is a very important issue: between the pandemic and inflation, by the end of 2022, wages in Italy were 7.5 percent lower than the OECD average of 2.2 percent, in real terms in the South “The loss was up to 8.4 percent. Despite this, the government does not care about poor work for workshop interests. There is no other reason to bury our PDL like this.”
“Collective bargaining is not enough”
As its supporters have repeatedly declared and as “recommended” by the CNEL, led by Renato Brunetta, the former PA minister in the Berlusconi government, the executive does not really want to know how to introduce the minimum wage and claims that wages will be increased. The focus should be on collective bargaining. It does not say that the vast majority of contracts where collective bargaining applies provide for wages above the 9 euros per hour threshold proposed by the opposition. The problem affects everyone else. “We pretend not to understand that collective bargaining alone is not enough, Valentina Barzotti continues: This needs to be supported by a law, because market distortions and dumping often weaken social dialogue. There are agreements that stipulate minimum wages to be very low: this is why a law is downward “It will finally put an end to bargaining. Even the idea of differentiating wages according to the cost of living, which the Rizzetto amendment envisages, is ludicrous. It divides the country as if there was already differentiated autonomy. It is not enough and the era of ‘salary cages’ is reopening. This majority takes us to the darkest and deepest past.”
Schlein: “This is a start for the premiership”
Democratic Party secretary Elly Schlein also took part in the Labor Party commission to support the opposition’s fight against government-imposed oppression. “There is no way in the world that a law initiated by the opposition parliament can become a government delegation. This is, to all intents and purposes, an appetizer for the prime minister’s office, a lever to drain Parliament’s prerogatives and undermine the rights of minorities to make proposals.”
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Source: Today IT
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
