It resumed yesterday after the breaking of the contractual table on wages last October 7 and the strike of November 5, the negotiation for the renewal of the Metalworkers' National Collective Labor Agreement. The table reopened in the presence of the President of Federmeccanica Alberto Dal Poz and the President of Assistal Angelo Carlini, with the presentation of a document with the proposals on which to resume negotiations. The document presented to the table, the unions say, is the result of the work done in part in the previous meetings before the table was broken up.
It is a 34-page document, very articulated, in continuity with the contractual renewal process started in 2016 which, in addition to envisaging the reform of professional classifications, stuck in the 70s, proposes an increase in the overall salary treatment of 65 euros which consists of two parts: one on the minimums, the other on the treatment for the enhancement of work. The document responds to the desire to encourage second-level agreements through simplification and the introduction of an equalization element of 250 euros per year for those who do not engage in company bargaining. On the welfare front, the flexible benefits are raised from the current 200 euros per year to 250 euros and the contribution for supplementary pensions is increased, with a higher rate for young people.
For General secretary of the Fim Cisl Roberto Benaglia, “the presence today of the two presidents of Federmeccanica Dal Poz and Assistal Carlini at the negotiating table is a positive sign that we take on the willingness to work concretely on the renewal of the National Collective Labor Agreement. The context of great uncertainty we are experiencing, due to the pandemic and the changes taking place in the world of work, increases our responsibilities, the acceleration of the forms of change in work imposes an obligation on us to try to support and respond to companies and workers".
"The new proposal from Federmeccanica and Assistal - continues Benaglia -, after 11 months of finally constitutes a first answer and a useful basis to build an effective negotiation that recovers lost time and allows for the construction of a contractual result that responds to our regulatory and salary requests. There are distances but it will now be the negotiations to work to reduce them. Today we are facing a passage in which we must put in charge a courage superior to the effort made in 2016. We must work to create a national collective agreement for the people. We need useful and protective solutions to overcome this phase of uncertainty. The document presented today was a great effort but there is still work to be done. We need to find spaces within the negotiation that bring it together with our platform".
Compared to the document presented there are in fact, concludes the leader of Fim Cisl, still setting distances on which we have to work, especially on the wage front where there is a theme of structure and quantity. We greatly appreciate the effort and the will after decades to renew the system of job classifications stopped in the early '70s, a fundamental issue in the face of the change in the world of work. To enter into the merits of the discussion, we have set four close appointments starting on December 1st and then continuing on December 2nd, 3rd and 9th.
