“Smart working? We don't need a new law, but union agreements will be fundamental. The national collective agreement? It must be closed as soon as possible, businesses don't hide behind the crisis. The Ilva of Taranto? In Puglia, the electoral campaign is over, there are no more alibis”. He intervenes at 360 degrees, interviewed by FIRSTonline, the new general secretary of Fim Cisl, Roberto Benaglia. The trade unionist, who took over from Marco Bentivogli a couple of months ago at the helm of one of the most representative acronyms of the metalworkers category (in Italy there are 1,2 million in total), faces all the hottest dossiers: from Covid to the renewal of the collective agreement national, passing through the industrial crises. Asking entrepreneurs for more bargaining and the government for "fewer bonuses and more social services for workers and families".
Secretary, let's start with the contract. Why is it so urgent to renew it?
“It expired at the end of last year, we are already 9 months late. The negotiation is urgent because this will be the contract for the restart, the contract that must give a sign of confidence to the workers and set the conditions for the relaunch of the industry. Federmeccanica must not waste time hiding behind Covid: it is precisely now that a new agreement is needed, which gives certainties and which recognizes the value of work. Let's not delude ourselves: the Recovery Fund will not be enough, more negotiation between the parties is needed ".
On which points will you insist more?
“The contract in this phase of great uncertainty represents an element of stability for workers and companies: competitiveness of companies, workers' skills, training and safety, industrial relations are among the central points on which to insist. In the emergency phase of the pandemic we have seen as a fundamental issue, hitherto underestimated, how safety has been strategic for managing the emergency in the workplace and preserving businesses and workers. As well as training which in this phase of epochal changes that see work going through a profound transformation represents a central element. Obviously then there is the salary part, which on the platform presented before the pandemic points to an increase of 8% (on average 156 euros more). The objective, on this point, is that the important and decisive role that metalworkers have on the results of a company is recognized”.
How do you evaluate the extension by the Government of layoffs and the blocking of layoffs? Many argue that this will cause an avalanche of layoffs in the winter…
“There is a risk, but union bargaining is crucial for this very reason. The extension of the block on layoffs was right, but it won't last indefinitely and for this very reason it is urgent to give new protections to workers. How to do it? Dialogue with the government and industrialists to provide solidarity contracts, to reduce working hours in order to safeguard jobs, to hire young people and prevent them once again from paying for the crisis. We must act now because we cannot afford a new lockdown, nor can we wait for the vaccine ”.
The Covid emergency has suddenly brought smart working, or rather teleworking, to the fore. In the meantime, can you explain the difference?
“Teleworking is when the work that you would do in the office is done remotely, while smart working is something more complex, which requires that part of the work is still done on site and which must be increasingly regulated to protect workers. In the spring we found ourselves catapulted into this new reality, but we weren't ready yet".
In Italy, however, there has been a law on smart working since 2017, do you say that it should be updated?
“No, not this. The law exists and we don't need others, but we need more trade union bargaining, we need a shared project between employers and trade unions”.
So what can you ask the Government?
“While insisting, for example, on broadband, so as to allow all Italians to work effectively online. And then there is the issue of women and families: smart working has shown that often mothers, working from home, are subjected to a double effort, the professional one and that of managing their children. Meanwhile, it is not written anywhere that these duties should fall only on women, and then it would be right to expect more social services from the government. Maybe less bonuses but more kindergartens, for example".
There is also a lot of talk about the issue of the right to disconnect. Will you battle this?
"Certain. In Europe there are already examples of companies in which the internal servers themselves block the sending of corporate emails in the evening and on weekends. Technology already makes it possible to largely protect the worker from being bombed 24 hours a day, but we must decide to use it”.
However, smart working also brings many benefits, starting with savings for businesses: we are talking about 20.000 euros less a year for each worker, if they work from home.
"And not only. Smart working also means less commuting, less time lost in meetings, therefore more productivity and less impact on the environment. But it must be regulated, because working from home shouldn't be a holiday, but neither should it be heavier than working in the company. We are already discussing with some large groups to better organize ourselves, remembering that smart working is not teleworking and therefore does not include always working from home, but is a mix of different solutions whose paradigm is that one works for results. I am against the absolutization of smart working".
We close with a dossier that has been hot for years, but which has returned incandescently in recent days. After your protests, you obtained a meeting at the Mise for Ilva in Taranto. What's the situation?
“It happened that the Government and ArcelorMittal excluded the union from the negotiations for a long time. But now the electoral campaign is over in Puglia, so there are no more alibis. The solution is not simple but we must bear in mind that in Taranto we cannot afford to lose jobs and that there is a real risk that ArcelorMittal will decide to give up at the end of November. This would create further uncertainty. Last Tuesday we finally obtained a meeting at the Mise: a positive fact, but the questions remain open".
