Inflation is now under control, the timeline of the interest rate cut seems to be substantially assured by the ECB and the Fed, net of upheavals on the energy front coming from the various regional hotbeds of war. On the wage front, negotiations continue in the various economic categories, to adjust the Salaries after a very significant inflationary cycle. It was held in Padua, at the headquarters of Confindustria Veneto East (which brings together the associations of Venice, Padua, Rovigo and Treviso), the meeting between the metalworking association sector e Stefano Franchi, general manager of Federmeccanica, which updated on the progress of the contract renewal negotiations. Confindustria Veneto Est is one of the most important economic areas at a national level for the metalworking industry, with over 12.600 local units and approximately 132 thousand employees, equal to 56% and 53,2% of the regional total of the sector, respectively.
Metalworkers, what does the contract renewal include?
The renewal provides for the maintenance of the mechanism of salary adjustment to inflation trend (IPCA Nei index), which during the period of validity of the previous contract determined an adjustment of the minimum wage tables equal to 310 euros gross to level C3. The new text also includes the recognition of 700 euros gross per year in the face of a gross operating margin on turnover greater than 10% and incremental for employees of all companies that do not have performance bonuses or other collective economic elements (the amount will be 350 euros gross in the case of the presence of individual elements). Positive news also for the benefit segment: the increase of “flexible benefits” to 400 euros is expected, in the case in which the current 200 euros are allocated to services with social and environmental value (nursery fees, purchase of school books, public transport, assistance for the elderly). «Federmeccanica's proposal not only responds to the main requests of the union but is a further step towards the needs of people.
The increases guaranteed in recent years have been significant and unprecedented, as have the health benefits provided for hundreds of millions of euros. The economic situation of the metalworking sector is complicated, highly exposed to competitive pressures and very low margins, and any further salary recognition can only be linked to productivity. In this sense, "the maintenance and implementation of certain actions at a national level, above all the reduction of the tax wedge", is also fundamental, he declared Antonella Candiotto, president of the metalworking group of Confindustria Veneto Est. The production activity in the metalworking sector of Veneto Est confirms the phase of weakness, which is transversal to Italian and European manufacturing more generally.
Metalworkers, the analysis of Confindustria Veneto Est
According to the economic analysis of Confindustria Veneto Est, in the first six months of 2024 the variation was -2,8% compared to the same period in 2023. exports in the metalworking sector recorded a growth in the first half of the year contraction of -4,8%, in the wake of the decline in sales in Germany (-9,1%), France (-2,7%), Spain (-6,8%), the United Kingdom (-13,5%), Austria (-11,5%). A more positive trend in sales was recorded towards the United States (+2%), Romania (+13,7), the Netherlands (+0,9), China (+18,7%) and Turkey (+16%). As regards the part of compliance with the ESG principles of the national collective agreement, it ranges from social-solidarity aspects such as what is provided for non-self-sufficiency to supplementary healthcare for the weakest groups, training and safety at work, to environmental aspects, up to governance on contracts and participation. "The renewal is also crossed by important interventions on gender issues with the aim of increasing female employment in general and at management levels. The proposal to create a Ccnl Esg combines two essential needs: that of economic and social sustainability and that of competitiveness", were the words of Franchi.
