A tour de force of meetings, strictly by videoconference, between the government and the trade unions to avoid a series of strikes that could paralyze the country in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. At 12 the meeting with Cigl, Cisl and Uil began, at 16 it's the turn of the gas station workers' unions. Compared to yesterday, March 24, however, there seems to be some hope. The first meeting ended with an agreement between the parties which provides for the revision of the list of production activities considered essential and indispensable, at this stage, for the country and which therefore must remain open. The ministerial decree could arrive as early as the day.
OPENINGS OF THE METALWORKERS: CHANGE THE LIST OF OPEN ACTIVITIES
"Many of our requests have been accepted, the Ateco list has been modified, now we are just waiting for the immediate promulgation of the administrative acts which will take place during the day”, said the general secretary of the Uil, Carmelo Barbagallo, summarizing the progress made in the hours preceding the conference call. This morning the metalworkers' strikes had already begun in Lombardy and Lazio.
Government and trade unions have found a compromise on the productive activities to be left open. CGIL, CISL and UIL presented a document with 18 changes to the previous list. Among the most relevant changes, the text should include the closure of call centres, postal service and couriers. In the construction sector, only urgent construction sites (an example is the Genoa bridge) and maintenance activities should remain active. Indeed, Barbagallo explained that "many of our requests have been accepted" and that "the list presented a few days ago by the government was too extensive".
PETROL STATIONS: AVOID THE STRIKE
Filed the dispute with the metalworkers, Patuanelli meets the representatives of petrol stations who have threatened to close the plants starting tonight. First it will be the turn of the motorway systems, then we will move on to those of ring roads and crops, finally it will be the turn of the ordinary road systems.
On 24 March, during an interview with Tg5, the Premier, Giuseppe Conte invited the associations to "postpone". "We'll find a solution with Minister De Micheli. But we cannot allow this public service to come to an interruption”, added the Prime Minister.
Through a note, the Ministry of Transport makes it known what the plan could be: “managers will be able to agree on alternating opening periods with the motorway concessionaires. In any case, refueling in self-service mode must be ensured".
“We are fighting to stay open, not to close”, replies Alessandro Zavalloni, general secretary of Fegica-Cisl. “We have been writing daily to the prime minister, ministers and oil company managing directors for a month, but we have never received a reply. The little man who seems to be part of the street furniture, like the traffic light, actually guarantees an essential service. All the responsibility cannot be unloaded on his shoulders – he underlines – ”, explains the trade unionist to Ansa. Consumption in the sector has dropped by 90% and the fear is that the managers no longer have sufficient liquidity to purchase the product: "we have proposed to the companies to suspend payments for one or two months, to work shifts, but there is no they don't even allow rotations. Nobody heard us,” he adds.
(Last update: 15.35 pm on 25 March).
