Italy: Representativeness of the European social partner organisations – Personal services sector
The aim of this representativeness study is to identify the respective national and supranational actors (i.e. trade unions and employer organisations) in the field of industrial relations in the personal services sector in Italy. In order to determine their relative importance in the sector’s industrial relations, this study will, in particular, focus on their representational quality as well as on their role in collective bargaining.
Introduction
In Italy, there are only small or very small artisan enterprises operating in the personal services sector. In fact, there are 200 thousand workers in the sector and only 60 thousand employees. In such conditions, the unionisation is logically quite complicated. Many workers in the sector subscribe to the trade unions in order to obtain advice in fiscal matters or regarding pensions to better exercise their rights once their employer-employee relationship has concluded. Relations between the trade union organizations are very positive, as are those between trade unions and employer associations. In the sector, there is only one National Collective Agreement and little decentralized bargaining, mostly at territorial level.
1. Sectoral properties
There are only small enterprises in this sector, many of which are individual concerns.
In Italy, artisan enterprises are defined and regulated by the Civil Code and by Law 443 of 1985 (Outline law for artisan enterprises). These enterprises are entitled to various forms of tax relief.
The hairdressers and beauticians, apart from the characteristics required to be officially recognised as artisans, must also obtain a professional qualification, issued by the Chamber of Commerce. This qualification, among other things, depends on work experience and professional diplomas.
The sector is characterized by low salaries which are sometimes up to 40% lower than in the industrial sector and by a wide use of apprenticeship. In the most recent National Collective Agreement, an institution of apprenticeship training was introduced (apprendistato professionalizzante) which makes it possible for apprentices between the ages of 18 and 29 to be hired.
Many enterprises in the sector operate within other enterprises, above all in tourism (Health centres and beauty farms, hotels, spa baths, etc.).
More than one enterprise frequently operates within the same place. For example, it is common for a beautician which cures finger nails to work in a hairdressing salon.
Another characteristic of the sector, above all for hairdressers, is the tendency for employees to later become employers. In fact, apprentices or workers in hairdressing salons, once they have learnt their trade, tend to start up their own personal activity.
| 1991* | 2001* | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of employers | 121,711 | 118,516 |
| Aggregate employment* | 200,256 | 202,142 |
| Male employment* | 59,909** | 60,473 |
| Female employment* | 140,347** | 141,669 |
| Aggregate employees | 56,441 | 62,224 |
| Male employees | 6,152** | 6,782 |
| Female employees | 50,289** | 55,442 |
| Aggregate sectoral employment as a % of total employment in the economy | 0.86% | 0.86% |
| Aggregate sectoral employees as a % of the total number of employees in the economy | 0.34% | 0.36 |
* No data more recent than 2001 is available. The dates considered (1991 and 2001) refer to the most recent censuses conducted by the National Statistical Institute (ISTAT) in the industrial and service sectors.
ISTAT, 8th Census of industry and services, 2001.
ISTAT, 7th Census of industry and services, 1991.
** Approximated data.
2. The sector’s trade unions and employer associations
As mentioned above, the sector is characterized by very small enterprises, which are individual or with no more than one or two employees.
While the employer associations have great membership potential, offering essential fiscal and administrative assistance for very small enterprises, the trade unions in the sector have little chance to attract workers, also because a person working in a very small enterprise which subscribes to a trade union can be considered by the employer as a possible threat.
2a Data on the trade unions
The union density of employees in the sector is particularly low because there is a tendency for employees to later become entrepreneurs themselves.
Workers frequently become trade union members once they have left a company in order to obtain services (pension advice, fiscal assistance, legal help and consultancy, etc.) which the trade unions offer free of charge to their members.
The workers in the sector are represented by the following trade union organizations:
The Italian Federation of Workers in the Commerce, Tourism and Service Sector (Federazione Italiana Lavoratori Commercio Turismo e Servizi, FILCAMS)
The Italian Federation of Commercial Services and Tourism (Federazione Italiana Sindacati Addetti Servizi Commerciali Affini e del Turismo, FISASCAT)
The Italian Union of Workers in the Commerce, Tourism and Service Sector (Unione Italiana Lavoratori Turismo Commercio e Servizi, UILTuCS)
The Filcams represents private employees in the following sectors:
- Tourism
- Tertiary and distribution
- Services
On a national level, the Filcams is part of the General Confederation of Italian Workers (Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro, CGIL).
On a European level, the Filcams is part of the European Federation of Trade Unions in the Food, Agriculture and Tourism sectors and allied, EFFAT, of the European Trade Union Liasion Committee on Tourism, ETLC and of the Union Network International - Europe, UNI-EUROPE..
On an international level, the Filcams is part of UNI and the Uniting Food, Farm and Hotel Workers World-Wide, IUF-UITA-IUL.
The Fisascat represents private employees in the following sectors:
- Commercial and connected activities;
- Hospitality, restoration and tourism;
- Various services, religious institutions, betting agencies, casinos, bingo halls, social services, civil employees in NATO and American military bases, home helpers, cleaning activities, disinfections, pest control, mouse trapping, maintenance of exhibitions, shops, offices and, in general, of public and private areas, including industrial divisions, tertiary activities.
On a national level, the Fisascat is part of the Italian Confederation of Workers’ Union (Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Lavoratori, CISL).
On a European level, the Fisascat is part of the EFFAT and of the UNI-EUROPE.
On an international level, the Fisascat is part of the UNI, of the IUF-UITA-IUL and of the International Transport Workers’ Federation, ITF.
The Uiltucs represents private employees in the following sectors:
- Tourism
- Tertiary and distribution
- Autonomous services and other
On a national level, the Uiltucs is part of the Union of Italian Workers (Unione Italiana del Lavoro, UIL).
On a European level, the Uiltucs is part of the EFFAT and of the UNI-EUROPE.
On an international level, the Uiltucs is part of the UNI and of the IUF-UITA-IUL.
| Organisation | Number of members | Female union members as a % of total union membership | Potential union membership | Density with regard to the union domain | Members in the sector | Density of the union with regard to the sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FILCAMS* | 350,000 | 62% | 1,670,000** | 20.9% | 1,200 | 1.9% |
| FISASCAT* | 200,000 | n.a. | 1,670,000** | 11.98% | 6,220** | 10.0%** |
| UILTuCS* | 100,141 | n.a. | 1,670,000** | 6.0% | n.a. | n.a. |
* The data shown was supplied directly by the organisations.
** Estimated data
Membership in all the trade unions of the sector is voluntary.
All the above-mentioned trade unions sign both national and decentralised collective agreements.
2b Data on the employer associations
Similarly for trade union membership, an employer often becomes a member of a employer association for the free services offered by the association to their members (accounting, payment deadlines, assistance in the payment of workers’ social security contributions, etc.).
The employer organizations operating in the sector are:
The General Italian Federation of Artisans – Beauty Care (Confederazione generale italiana dell’artigianato - Estetica, CONFARTIGIANATO ESTETICA)
The General Italian Federation of Artisans – Hairdressers (Confederazione generale italiana dell’artigianato - Acconciatori, CONFARTIGIANATO ACCONCIATORI)
The National Confederation of Artisans and of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises – Health and Wellness (Confederazione Nazionale dell’Artigianato e della Piccola e Media Impresa – Benessere e Sanità, CNA BENESSERE E SANITÀ)
The Confederation of Free Italian Artisan Associations (Confederazione delle Libere Associazioni Artigiane Italiane CLAAI)
The Autonomous Confederation of Artisan Unions (Confederazione Autonoma Sindacati Artigiani CASARTIGIANI)
The Confartigianato Estetica represents artisan enterprises in the sector of health and beauty farm Services and manicure and pedicure services.
The Confartigianato Acconciatori represents artisan enterprises in the barbers’ Service sector and services of hairdressing salons.
On a national level, the Confartigianato Estetica and the Confartigianato Acconciatori are part of the General Italian Confederation of Artisans (Confederazione generale italiana dell’artigianato, CONFARTIGIANATO).
On a European level, the Confartigianato Estetica and the Confartigianato Acconciatori are part of , through the Confartigianato, the Union Europeenne de l’Artisanat e des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises, UEAPME
The Cna Benessere e Sanità represents artisan enterprises in the following sectors:
- Dental technicians
- Podiatrist
- Opticians
- Orthopaedics
- Beauticians
- Hairdressing
- Fitness
- Connected Activities
On a national level, the Cna Benessere e Sanità is part of the National Confederation of Artisans and of the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (Confederazione Nazionale dell’Artigianato e della Piccola e Media Impresa, CNA). CNA Benessere e Sanità is also part of the Italian Chamber of Coiffure (Camera Italiana dell’Acconciatura, CIA).
On a European level, the Cna Benessere e Sanità is part of the European Confederation of Beauticians and Cosmeticians (Confederation Europeenne Professionelle des Estheticiennes Cosmeticiennes, CEPEC) and Coiffure EU that is also part of UEAPME.
The Claai represents artisan enterprises in the following sectors:
- Transport – Taxi drivers
- Construction
- Fitters (pluming, heating, etc.)
- Wood
- Metalworking
- Male and mixed hairdressers
- Various
This organization is not affiliated to any European or international organization.
The Casartigiani represents artisan enterprises in the following sectors:
- Clothing, textiles and footwear
- Hairdressers, Beauticians and Barbers
- Goods drivers
- Construction.
- Photographers, Printers, Graphic Designers, Paper makers, Opticians
- Wood and Furnishing
- Artistic and traditional trades including goldsmiths, silversmiths, potters and marble workers
- Dry-cleaning
- Grocers’, Bakers’ and Confectioners’
- Metalworkers and Installers and Mechanics
- Chemists of plastica and glass
- Dental technicians
- Podiatrists
- Enterprises in Cleaning, Disinfection and Pest control
This association has no European or international affiliations.
| Number of member companies | Number of employees working in member companies | Density of the association in terms of companies with regard to their domain | Density of the association in terms of companies with regard to the sector | Density in terms of employees represented with regard to their domain | Density in terms of Employees represented with regard to the sector | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CONFARTIGIANATO ESTETICA* | 5,000 | 8,600 | 19.2% | 19.4% | 19.00% | 19.5% |
| CONFARTIGIANATO ACCONCIATORI* | 23,500 | 39,000 | 19.3% | 19.2% | 19.3% | 19.3% |
| CNA BENESSERE E SANITA’ * | 28,000 | 12,233*** | 19.3% | 19.6% | 19.3%*** | 19.6%*** |
| CLAAI* | 115,976 | 48,749*** | 8.0% | 5.7% | 8.0% | 5.7% |
| CASARTIGIANI* | 84,663 | 35,587 | n.a. | 3.0% | n.a. | 3.8% |
* The data shown was supplied directly by the organisations.
** The data was obtained from the web site of the organization. In fact, despite numerous requests, the organization failed to supply any information.
*** Estimated data
Enterprises are free to choose whether to join the above-mentioned employer associations or not.
All the above-mentioned employer associations sign both national and decentralised collective agreements.
3. Inter-associational relationships
Industrial relations in the sector are very positive. There is no rivalry and there is complete collaboration. There are no autonomous trade unions.
There is no minimum representativeness necessary for trade union organizations to participate in bargaining. In fact, all organizations have the right to participate in collective bargaining, as have all employer associations.
4. The system of collective bargaining
The bargaining in the sector covers approximately 100% of employees.
In the sector, national collective bargaining is much more important than de-centralized bargaining. In fact, national bargaining accounts for 90% of relations between actors, while de-centralized bargaining (above all territorial) accounts for the remaining 10%.
The National Collective Agreement adopted by enterprises is applied to all employees.
There is no law which establishes which National Collective Agreement must be applied by enterprises. However, they usually apply the National Collective Agreement undersigned by the representative organizations they are affiliated to.
For many enterprises which are not affiliated to any employer association, the tendency is to adopt the National Collective Agreement which is most economically convenient, also if this sometimes means adopting a National Collective Agreement which is not specifically linked to the sector the enterprise operates in.
Working relationships are regulated by one single National Collective Agreement, which expired in December 2003 and was renewed in July 2008. Many enterprises tend to adopt this National Collective Agreement even if it is not always specific to their sector (e.g. fitness centres), because it is economically convenient.
| Bargaining parties | Purview of the agreements | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sectoral | Type of employees | Territorial | |
| Cgil, Cisl, Uil, Confartigianato, Cna, Casartigiani, Claai | Yes | Hairdressers and Beauticians | National |
5. Formulation and implementation of sector-specific public policies
The representative organizations of the sector are usually consulted by the authorities in matters regarding specific issues in the sector.
In the sector, however, there are no permanent Bodies which involve the participation of the institutions. The Bodies, which are exclusively bilateral, are as follows:
| Name of the body and scope of activity | Bipartite/tripartite | Origin: agreement/statutory | Trade unions having representatives (reps) | Employer associations having reps. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FONDARTIGIANATO (Inter-professional Fund for continuous vocational training) | Bipartite | Agreement | Cgil, Cisl, Uil | Confartigianato, Cna, Casartigiani, Claai |
| ARTIFOND (Inter-categorial Pension Fund for employees in the artisan sector) | Bipartite | Agreement | Cgil, Cisl, Uil | Confartigianato, Cna, Casartigiani, Claai |
| EBNA (Bilateral Body for Artisans) | Bipartite | Agreement | Cgil, Cisl, Uil | Confartigianato, Cna, Casartigiani, Claai |
6. Statutory regulations of representativeness
In Italy, in the private sector, there is no law which establishes the criteria to follow when determining trade union or employers’ associations representativeness. The level of representativeness of each trade union organization depends on the results of the elections of the representatives of the RSU (Rappresentanze Sindacali Unitarie, Unitary Workplace Union) or the RSA (Rappresentanze Sindacali Aziendali, Plant-level union structures) on the workplace.
The forms of representation are regulated by law, while more general rights are regulated through an inter-confederal agreement stipulated in 1992.
The law 300/1970 (workers’ statute of rights) establishes workers’ trade union rights and the rights and duties for the trade union representatives. The law states there is one condition in order to allow the trade union organizations which sign the National Collective Agreement to nominate a representative on the workplace: a minimum of 15 employees for the industrial enterprises and 5 employees for the agricultural enterprises.
Additional measures regarding individual and collective union rights are agreed upon and stipulated in the National Collective Agreements which define, among other things, the criteria to be used when selecting the representatives in the bilateral or trilateral bodies.
All the trade unions, including the smaller ones, can participate in negotiations for the renewal of the National Collective Agreement. It is generally in the interests of the companies to negotiate with as many trade unions as possible because it prevents internal conflict.
During the subsequent decentralized negotiations, only the organizations which have signed the National Collective Agreement can participate.
In the personal services sector, there is no trade union representation of workers.
Due to the characteristics of the enterprises in the artisan sector, it would probably be advisable to apply in some way the Law 300 mentioned above, lowering the minimum limit of workers necessary to nominate a trade union representative, as happens in the agricultural sector.
The trade union organizations in the sector do not consider their level of representativeness to be important in negotiations. In fact, all actors carry equal weight during bargaining in the sector.
Vilma Rinolfi and Domenico Paparella, Cesos