ROME. On the pnrr “from the beginning we told the Conte government that it was not going in the right direction” reiterated the president of Confindustria, Carlo Bonomi, speaking on “Start” on Sky Tg24. “If we make roundabouts and cycle paths, we are moving towards sustainability, but we do not create GDP: we are getting into debt in the name of future generations”, so that “the last installment of the Pnrr in 2058 will be paid by a boy who has not yet been born”. If the money does not aim at the growth of the country – Bonomi continues -, “there is damage to future generations, while “part of the funds must be used to stimulate investments in transitions and growth of the country”.
Interest rate policy
“We are not convinced by the interest rate policy, especially that of the announcements that frighten the markets”. «We – says the president of Confindustria – had estimated inflation at 5-6% at the end of this year, but now we have revised the estimates and it could be lower than 3-4%. It’s not about the ECB’s policies: history teaches us that inflation doesn’t come down by raising rates. Anti-inflation isn’t countered by just raising rates. Unfortunately it’s in their DNA, it’s a historic problem.
The “real challenge” facing the government is “to make the cut in labor costs structural” and “we will have to see if the government will do it with the budget law”. The OECD – continues BOnomi – “tells us that Italy is the third country for taxes on work: more taxes are paid on work than on financial income”. «Ever since my election to the presidency – recalls the number one of Confindustria – I have said that the first point was the reduction of taxes on labour. Confindustria had proposed a shock intervention of 16 billion”. Bonomi also “right now to give more to workers under the 35,000-euro income bracket means putting 1,200 euros in your pocket, it’s an extra month’s salary but it must be structural”.
Exceptional measures against the heat
“Thinking about having to put your life at risk because you go to work is something that you have to make everyone think about, it’s not just an issue of employers’ associations, it’s a theme of trade unions and it’s a theme of government”, observes the president of Confindustria, in these very hot days: he supports the urgency of protecting workers and proposes to “pursue the Covid model by signing a protocol between employers’ associations and trade unions to allow for extraordinary solutions for everyone”. «We are talking – he says – about something particular about smart working, again widening the possibility to allow not to move and stay at home». Then a series of solutions, including layoffs even for the most risky jobs. For Bonomi, “thinking of having to risk one’s life because one goes to work is something that must make everyone think, not just a theme of the employers’ association, but a theme of the trade unions and the government”.
On the project, the Uil leader, Pierpaolo Bombardieri, replies by arguing that “there is no time to discuss the protocol, a decree law is needed immediately”. In a tweet, he underlines that for the union, urgency is the only way forward to protect workers from the surge in heat these days, unlike what was also outlined yesterday by the Minister of Labor, Marina Calderone, at the table with the social partners. “A decree that protects workers from high temperatures and prohibits the activity of particularly exposed jobs above 33 degrees here,” she explains.
“Europe does not consider the green transition”
The energy transition is “certainly a great opportunity”, but it must go hand in hand with “social and economic sustainability, otherwise everything collapses”, says Bonomi. He mentions the ban on fuel-powered cars scheduled for 2030: «If I shut down 70,000 automotive seats, it’s not like the next day I find another 70,000. We need to relocate the workers, train them. This is the problem: Europe has not considered these issues”.