In December, the contract for the metalworkers category expires, and the unions are already ready for discussions with Federmeccanica: "After a few months of discussions - they declare in a joint note Marco Bentivogli general secretary Fim, Francesca Re David general secretary Fiom, and Rocco Palombella, general secretary Uilm – we jointly created the platform with which to start the discussion on the renewal of the National Collective Bargaining Agreement (CCNL) for metalworkers. The Federmeccanica – Assistal CCNL expires on 31 December 2019, signed jointly by Fim, Fiom and Uilm on 26 November 2016. The objective that the metalworkers' union organizations set themselves is the renewal of a national contract, shared by metalworkers and men and women, signed by Fim, Fiom, and Uilm and Federmeccanica-Assistal, and therefore the relaunch of industrial work starting from the metalworking sector".
“In the platform – continues the document – an 8% wage increase is requested on the contractual minimums, relating to the period 2020-2022. After the premise, the platform is divided into the following paragraphs: Industrial relations, participation rights and active policies; Skills contract, classification, training; Integrative Welfare; Environment, Health and safety at work; Labor market and contracts; working hours; Rights and Protections; Wage; democratic path".
The document represents a summary of the positions of Fim-Fiom-Uilm. For an initial evaluation, the unitary councils of Fim-Fiom-Uilm were convened on 4 September in Rome. After the joint councils it will therefore be possible to start the assemblies in all the workplaces and the certified consultation with secret ballot of the male and female workers as envisaged by the 2014 TU. If the outcome is favourable, the platform will turn to Federmeccanica and Assistal for start negotiations as soon as possible leading to a renewal for metalworkers.
For Marco Welcome (Fim): “We have no alternatives on the path that has launched the innovation of bargaining since 2016, it is time to increase wages and build a contract that cares about the skills of the workers. Work and productions have changed, contracts cannot look to the past. It is the strongest strategy to defend the quality of employment, wage growth and job stability. It is time for Federmeccanica to accept the challenge in contracts and not just in conferences. Work cannot be valued with the lowest minimum wages in Europe. Let's bet together on industrial work.”
For Frances King David (Fiom): "This is the first unitary platform of metalworkers since 2006. We are in the presence of an important platform that aims to respond to the right request of workers for a substantial increase in wages and to deal with the changes intervened in recent years in the world of work and in the organizational models of companies, expanding protections and rights, especially in tenders, contrasting precariousness, and recognizing the value of work through interventions on training and professional classification. It is important to have defined the link between the democratic path and the workers' vote on the platform and on the possible agreement."
For Rocco Dogfish (Uilm): “This hypothesis of a shared platform with Fim and Fiom represents the first important step to start the renewal of the metalworkers' contract on the right foot. It is certainly the most important in the industrial sector since it involves 1 workers. While the 400 renewal was characterized by a strengthening of contractual welfare, in this 2016 renewal we focused our requests on significant wage increases in minimum wages. In fact, our request aims to fill a negative deficit that has been caused by the long years of crisis. With this renewal, therefore, we set ourselves the goal of increasing the purchasing power, which has also decreased due to the high taxation that weighs on employees."
