Social representation, company bargaining, and productivity: three conditions for growth. role of the CNEL. During the conference promoted by the Anna Kuliscioff Foundation On May 21st, an attempt was made to answer the question of how to exit 80 years of transitional trade union rights, which, however, do not seem to have yielded satisfactory results. Over the last thirty years, the average wage in Italy has decreased by 2,4%, while in other major European countries it has increased by between 30 and 50%. Moreover, in our country, labor productivity It remained stationary during the same period. delays in the renewal of national collective agreements They have eroded national minimum wages to the point of justifying corrective measures by the judiciary, transforming the exceptional into the norm and paving the way for each labor judge to assume a substitute role that should instead be the exclusive responsibility of the social partners. This serious inconsistency could be resolved by the state introducing a legal minimum wage expressed in terms of real purchasing power, applicable to all employment relationships and self-employment.
This monetary value would be multiplied by the coefficient calculated by ISTAT on the cost of living index for each province and would indicate differentiated monetary values. In other words, if a minimum salary of 10 euros (or even more) is commonplace in Milan, in other areas of the country it would be lower so as not to encourage a return or recourse to the "black market".
On the other hand, the government has decided to issue a decree-law which grants general effect to collective agreements stipulated by the most representative unions. However, the agreements of the CGIL, CISL, and UIL also fall under the scrutiny of Article 36 of the Constitution, which calls for the right to proportionate and adequate remuneration. Therefore, it is necessary to address all the issues that have thus far made it impossible to implement Article 39 of the Constitution, which defines the rules by which trade unions and employers' organizations are granted the power to produce legal documents, that is, to sign employment agreements with universal effect.
Representation, categories and role of the CNEL
Il theme of representation It is essential because it is the source of legitimacy for this power. Since representation is distributed among different subjects, it is necessary to measure the representativeness of each. This is even more true for managing the complexity of social conflicts. The measurement of representation in the world of work It is now accepted through two criteria: both the ratio of members of the various organizations and the ratio of members of the organizations to ordinary workers. It cannot be considered presumptuous, although it is true that, apart from certain sectors such as banking, education, logistics, air transport, or some large companies like Stellantis, where there is a significant presence of independent unions, the lion's share of worker members (regardless of their percentage of total employees) certainly belongs to the CGIL, CISL, and UIL.
On the other hand, the appeal to the majority cannot ignore the audience it refers to. And if the principle of trade union freedom applies, the "interested category" cannot be predetermined, as instead asserted, contradicting the fourth paragraph of Article 39, which appears to be in objective continuity with the pre-existing corporate system.
Of course, at the individual company level, the parties, legally represented and in compliance with Article 36, are free to sign a collective agreement which, subject to the binding judgment of the workers concerned, applies within that specific perimeter and cannot fail to be binding within the company.
But to measure the representativeness of the various competing trade unions and employers' associations, it is first necessary to define the scope of the "category" or "sector" within which the number of representatives must be measured. If two competing associations enter into contracts intended to apply in areas that partly overlap but partly do not, within which area should the number of representatives be measured?
It can only be a law, hopefully based on a common opinion between unions and employers. During the conference on May 21st, La Anna Kuliscioff Foundation has intended to offer a contribution This is also reflected in the formulation of a specific bill drafted by Pietro Ichino, which provides that the representativeness of each trade union association be calculated based on the average of the number of members and the number of votes received in the elections for union representatives within the identified category, while the representativeness of business associations will be determined by the sum of the employees of each associated company. This measurement should be conducted annually by the CNEL, which will ensure its publication and updating on a dedicated, freely accessible platform.
Naturally, a problem could arise when two or more collective agreements are signed for the same category or sector, or when the category or sector covered by one collective agreement overlaps with the category or sector covered by another. In these cases, the CNEL (National Council for Labour and Employment) compares the representativeness of the signatory associations and identifies the agreement that, based on the criteria indicated above, is binding on all.
Productivity bonuses and company bargaining
The conference also set itself the concrete objective of create a closer link between productivity increases and wages and has put forward a proposal to promote company-level collective bargaining and incentivize increases in labor productivity and wages. The ongoing debate on wage adequacy in Italy, in addition to requiring interventions in the collective bargaining system, also creates the basis for a reflection on wage structure, particularly the ratio between fixed and variable components, where variable compensation is defined as that linked to company performance (which currently does not exceed 10% of total compensation and is practiced by no more than 25% of companies). The chances of pursuing this path successfully are possible and depend solely on the genuine (and shared) will of the social partners.
It would be enough to sign a national inter-confederal agreement between trade unions and employers' organizations which establishes, as an integral part of every remuneration treatment in every private company, a productivity bonus determined in relation to the increase in the Gross Operating Margin (or EBITDA) year by year, with formulas and quantities established by each individual CCNL but possibly modifiable through company bargaining. Gross Operating MarginThe difference between costs and revenues before taxes is a common figure for all businesses and is easy to obtain and monitor. Each national collective bargaining agreement (CCNL) can determine the percentage increase in EBITDA in the last year, which must be distributed among employees, assuming there has been an increase. A legislative provision could require that an item like the one described above be included in the overall compensation of all employees, in accordance with the terms established by the applicable national collective bargaining agreement or, where applicable, by the company's collective bargaining agreement. Company bargaining may then be able to adjust these results, presumably by improving workers' compensation.
We believe that this proposal constitutes aextremely innovative operation, aimed at addressing the issues that have emerged in recent years as critical elements of the remuneration system and that have contributed to its current state of inadequacy. The key innovations would be to bring the source of wage levels closer to the place where wealth is generated, to incentivize increased labor productivity—which has stagnated in Italy for at least three decades—and with it, wage increases, and to concretely encourage worker participation in company management.
