Revolting Europe
CGIL
Italy’s new productivity deal: a critique
Wednesday two of Italy’s three trade union confederations signed a ‘productivity’ deal that sees employers gaining greater ‘flexibility’ to alter contracts and working conditions, with negotiations over labour contracts dealt with at a local level and not through sector-wide collective labour agreements. The largest union confederation CGIL rejected the deal. In return for this the … Continue reading
Italy: More than 200,000 take to streets in union-led protests against austerity
More than two hundred thousand took part in a demonstration in Rome Saturday to defend welfare, and promote growth and fair taxation. Organised by the three main trade union confederations CGIL, CISL e UIL, it brought thousands from the capital and surrounding region who were joined by workers and their families travelling to Rome from … Continue reading
Protests continue against Monti’s labour reforms
Not a day goes by without some protest or other against Italian pm Mario Monti’s regressive labour reforms. This Thursday morning in Treviglio, northern of Italy, 500 workers blocked traffic on the Brescia-Milan highway for 30 minutes and then marched on the the centre of the town where two banks were attacked with eggs. The demonstration was … Continue reading
Reforms leaving hundreds of thousands of Italians without pay or pensions spark protest
Rome saw fresh protests today (Friday 13 April) as unions called a demonstration against recent labour reforms imposed by the Italian government that have left hundreds of thousands of workers without pay or a pension. The reforms imposed a rise in the minimum retirement age that has seen ‘younger’ Italian pensioners without an income. These … Continue reading
Amended labour reforms head to Italian parliament
CGIL studies new text as Democrat Party declares it ‘an important step forward’ and Communists dismiss reforms as further step towards ‘transforming workers into a commodity’ Italian Premier Mario Monti softened his planned labour reform that would have made it easier for employers to lay off workers on Wednesday. Responding to opposition from the center-left … Continue reading
Monti’s labour reforms are a red herring
Italian prime minister Mario Monti is reported to be in crunch talks with unions today to see if he can get a deal that will make workers pay for the economic crisis. Monti argues, with little evidence*, that with American style labour markets Italy can resuscitate its zombie economy that has barely growth for in … Continue reading
Italians pay out billions to fight sickness as public health system cuts bite
Italians are being forced to fork out billions to pay for their healthcare as a result of cuts and new user charges imposed on the country’s public health service – and the problem is set to deteriorate further when €4 billion of new charges are introduced. Italians spent €30.6 billion over the period 2007-2010, an … Continue reading
Workers descend on Rome to ‘build a future’
Thousands of construction workers protested Saturday in Rome in a bid to ‘build a future’ for themselves. They arrived from around the country in 150 buses, a thousand trains and dozens of ferries from the Italian islands. The rally in the Italian capital today comes as the sector is facing its worse crisis since the Second … Continue reading
Unusual suspects join Italy’s public sector strike
“Reforms” to the pension’s system passed by the Italian parliament last week will “make doctors work until they are 66 and in some cases beyond, even as night shifts become more and more frequent because of the recruitment freeze in the health service,” says secretary of the medics section of the CGIL trade union confederation Massimo Cozza, … Continue reading
Italy public sector workers to strike
ITALY – Monday 19 December public sector workers will strike against cuts to pensions, welfare, for better pay, policies for growth and fairer taxes where the rich pay and evasion is tackled properly. Schools, universities, hospitals, postal services affected. All three main trade union confederations -CGIL, CISL e UIL – called the strike.
How about an alternative budget, Mr Monti?
Italian unions took strike action today against Mario Monti’s draconian austerity budget. Here’s an alternative that the CGIL, the country’s largest trade union confederation, asked the prime minister to consider in talks on Sunday, but was rebuffed. The austerity budget of the new unelected government of Mario Monti includes Euros 20 billion in spending cuts. … Continue reading
“Civil obedience” campaign launched by Italian anti-privatisation protesters
Twenty seven million Italians said No to the sell off the country’s water in a nationwide referendum this summer. But five months after this overwhelming popular rejection of privatisation, it is as if it never happened. The referendum revoked the law that requires an increasing share of local public services be handed over to the … Continue reading
Italy’s 8 million strong precariat
New research has uncovered massive hidden unemployment in Italy and a new army of precarious workers that has ballooned since the onset of the economic crisis. Official figures show unemployment at around 8%, or just over 2 million. But new research by the CGIL trade union confederation puts it at 13% or 3.5 million. The … Continue reading
Tax the rich, says Italian trade union
CGIL, Italy’s largest trade union confederation, has called on the country’s new prime minister Mario Monti to introduce a wealth tax. The tax would hit only affect the top richest 5% in Italy, with assets of 800,000 euros or more, and raise 18 billion euros (£15.4 billion) annually for the Treasury. Taking a similar French tax … Continue reading
Italian unions to protest over health cuts
The CGIL, Italy’s largest trade union confederation, has called a day of action on Friday 18 November to protest against cuts to health budgets. Among the swinging austerity measures passed by the outgoing government of Silvio Berlusconi over the weekend were health cuts of 12 billion euros (£10.3 billion) through 2014. The measures come on … Continue reading
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