Minister Orlando, in his speech to Epsco in Brussels, put the spotlight on the wage haemorrhage. Blame the pandemic, yes, but not only that. The issue is European, but in Italy the problem of pirate contracts is aggravating the scenario. In Italy there are 922 national collective labor agreements (data, updated as of December 31, 2019). A high number, beyond logic, of which “only” 300 signed by truly representative workers ‘and employers’ unions. The others are national contracts almost always signed by minor, fictitious or “convenience” representative acronyms, which in fact take money and benefits out of the paychecks. Coming to a reduction in salary of up to one third of the expected.
“There is a wage issue, aggravated by the pandemic, which crosses all Member States across the board. A point that is particularly close to the heart of the Italian government is that of promoting collective bargaining »begins Andrea Orlando in Brussels during the session on the minimum wage in the European Union. “In Italy – highlights Orlando – the wage issue is aggravated by the proliferation of so-called pirate collective agreements which from a residual factor has become a widespread phenomenon with significant effects on our industrial relations system in which practices that are ethically and legally unacceptable lurk. Practices that affect workers and businesses at the same time. Precisely for this reason, from our point of view, it is crucial to implement the directive by promoting quality collective bargaining which, by selecting representative negotiating agents, preserves their ability to guarantee fair and dignified working conditions and remuneration, while protecting , companies from phenomena of unfair competition and wage dumping that undermine the foundations of competitiveness in the European internal market ”. With the European Union we are working towards a fair and inclusive solution: «It is not acceptable that work condemns to a condition of poverty. We must all be satisfied with this principle that we are able to affirm today ”.