The government's decision not to "pursue a final agreement with the social partners" on labor reform "is in itself a politically primary fact", because it "limits the role of the trade unions" and "gives back to Parliament a decision-making power which it belongs, as a direct expression of national sovereignty". This is what the Republican deputy Giorgio La Malfa maintains.
Monti's decision to conclude the negotiations in this way "also contains a message addressed to the CGIL and the Democratic Party - continues La Malfa - which is not at all negative, as it would seem from the reactions of these hours. It was in fact evident that no final document would obtain the signature of all the social partners, given the divisions within the trade unions. If the Government had requested the signature on an agreement, it would have therefore formalized the split of the union, with the CISL and the UIL on one side and the CGIL on the other. Yes, this would have created serious difficulties for the Democratic Party, because when the Berlusconi Government made separate agreements with the social partners, the Democratic Party could include the position of the CGIL in its general opposition to the Government, while in the current situation, in which the Democratic Party supports the Government, a break between the Government and the CGIL would put the Democratic Party in great difficulty".
