ROME. It is not just the unions who fear a “social bomb” in the middle of summer. Even the usually prudent Luciana Lamorgese sees a “social risk if there are no guarantees for the workers.” The Minister of the Interior admits that “there is a problem with the blocking of layoffs, I hope that the mediation found goes well”. A hope that also seems shared by President Mattarella, who yesterday said he was “convinced that the restart will be effective if the various components of society are able to weave a fruitful dialogue”.
The mediation will be verified on Monday, when the last control room is scheduled, then it will be included in a decree expected the same day in the council of ministers. A selective extension of the prohibition on dismissals is expected, which will no longer apply to all large industrial and construction companies since 1 July.
Once the not very functional selection based on the Ateco codes has been archived, the block will remain in force until October 31st for at least two other specific sectors, textiles and fashion in general, at the top of the ranking as regards the loss of turnover between 2019 and 2020. For these sectors, as already provided for companies in the service sector and small businesses, the stop to layoffs will be accompanied by the possibility of benefiting from the Covid layoffs without charges. According to sources from the Ministry of Labor, the same approach should be extended to all companies that have crisis tables open at the Ministry of Economic Development: from Whirlpool down, to understand.
One way to widen the room for maneuver of Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, who, not surprisingly, from the Northern League front, was the first to reach out to Andrea Orlando for mediation on the selective block. It should be remembered that the discount on the Covid cash register, in theory, between now and the end of the year is available to all companies (including those of large industry and construction) that undertake not to send their employees away, even if they have the possibility to do so starting next Thursday.
It is not enough for the unions, today they are returning to the streets and continue to ask that the extension of the block to 31 October be extended to all companies. “If you want, there are all the times and conditions to avoid layoffs – says the leader of the CGIL, Maurizio Landini – To give the message today that problems can be solved by firing is a mistake”. The request for a general extension of the stop to layoffs is also supported within the government majority. “Time is running out, the government will find a solution in agreement with the trade unions”, the appeal of the parent company of Leu to the Senate, Loredana De Petris. While the senators of the 5 Star Movement in the Labor Committee are asking for “homogeneous interventions at least until September 1”.
The decree in preparation will also include reductions for the tourism sector, to lighten the cost of labor and encourage new contracts, and a rule to encourage the hiring of young apprentices in expansion contracts against the early retirement of workers who are lacking at least 5 years for the requirements. The provision will then contain the extension of the other critical deadline set at 30 June, that of the stop to the notification of the tax bills. A measure that is continuously renewed from March 2020 and will be extended by another two months, until 31 August. The rules should also arrive to extend the terms for resuming payments of the 16 installments suspended up to now for scrapping.
Extension in sight also for the Tari, whose installment of 30 June will be postponed to 31 July. A few more days should also be granted for the tax deadlines of VAT numbers, with the deferral – probably to July 20 – of the payment of the balance and advance payment of Irpef, Ires and Irap. The package will also include the refinancing, for almost 700 million, of the so-called “new Sabatini” law, with incentives for small and medium-sized enterprises that have to renew machinery and equipment. It will thus be possible to reopen the contribution desk, closed from June 2 due to lack of resources, without waiting for the end of July.
The expenditure to finance the decree is almost 3 billion, recovered from savings, certified by the Ministry of Economy, linked to resources not absorbed by non-repayable contributions for businesses and VAT numbers.