Rome, 2 July 2022 – Theinflation it rises to 8% and reaches 8.3% for the so-called “shopping cart” which directly affects families in food and consumer goods for personal care. A level never so high since 1986. A level that is well above that of the guard and that pushes the government, even under the pressure of the majority parties and the trade unions, to tighten on a package of interventions to save the purchasing power of wages in free fall and support, with further measures, the very meager wages of “poor” workers waiting for the minimum wage.
Two distinct operations that the Minister of Economy, Daniele Franco, and that of Labor, Andrea Orlando, are working on and which could see the light between July and September with the aim of making the workers with income up to 35 thousand euros a bonus of 200-250 euros per month in the last quarter of the year; and to do to raise the paycheck of the working poor to at least 9 euros per hour.
But let’s go back to the price hike. It concerns Italy and all of Europe. The values also mark an absolute peak at the continental level and are up by 8.6% in the Eurozone, a level never recorded by Eurostat since the birth of the common currency. In Germany, the inflation rate is 8.2%, in Spain, even 10%, while in France it remains more contained, at 6.5%, but still far from the European Central Bank’s objective of a rate close to 2%. “Inflationary tensions – explain from Istat – continue to spread from energy goods to other product sectors”. From here increases of 39.9% for non-regulated energy goods such as fuels and 64.3% for regulated ones, but also 8.8% increases for foodstuffs and even higher for fresh fruit and vegetables. Prices are also much more expensive for recreational, cultural and personal care services (+ 5%) and for transport-related services (+ 7.2%). While the acquired price increase that would occur in 2022 in the case, entirely theoretical, of zero price changes in the rest of the year, is already 6.5%. The accounts are staggering also on the travel and tourism front. With the doubling of air ticket prices (+ 90.4%), while hotels and other accommodations are 18.1% more expensive than a year ago.
To draw conclusions are the consumer associations. The Codacons indicates a “record blow” of 3,192 euros per year for a family of four and expects inflation to reach 10%. The National Consumers Union estimates an average increase of € 514 for electricity and € 394 for gas only for bills, and is pressing to return to administered prices. Federconsumatori underlines that the increases lead to renunciations, as evidenced by a drop of more than 16% in the consumption of meat and fish.
From trade unions to majority parties to business associations, appeals and warnings are multiplying to be quick and to avoid the hot autumn. The Uil secretary, Pierluigi Bombardieri, denounces “intolerable speculations”. While the leader of the CISL, Luigi Sbarra, calls for a new income policy in the face of “an emergency that no longer allows for postponements or divisions”. And the head of the CGIL, Maurizio Landini, he observes: “Are you afraid of a hot autumn? It’s already hot now, people can’t make it, immediate action is needed. Structural reforms are needed”. In reality, the government has had the dossiers open for weeks and is moving along the line announced yesterday by Enrico Letta of a two-stage intervention. The first, immediate, to give relief to wages from September to December with a monthly bonus of 200-250 euros, a sort of fourteenth month spread over a four-month period. The second, structural, with the cut of the tax wedge from next January to be implemented in the maneuver: and should not be less than the 16 billion euros also proposed by the president of Confindustria. While on poor work, Minister Orlando aims to increase the contractual minimums for those who are below a certain level through an operation that refers to the application of Article 36 of the Constitution on proportionate remuneration.