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In September and October 2005 after two years of extenuating negotiations, the Italian trade union organizations representing the workers of the school and public sector and the Aran agency signed the renewal of the national collective agreements for the two sectors covering the 2004-2005 economic contractual period. The first agreements provides for a pay increase of EUR 130 and arrears amounting to EUR 1,600, the second a pay increases of EUR 100.
On 21 September 2005 the trade union organisations affiliated to the General Confederation of Italian Workers (Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro, Cgil), the Italian Confederation of Workers’ Unions (Confederazione Italiana Sindacato Lavoratori, Cisl), the Union of Italian Labour (Unione Italiana del Lavoro, Uil) respectively sindacato nazionale scuola-Cgil, Cisl scuola, and Uil scuola representing school sector workers and the Aran agency (Agenzia per la rappresentanza negoziale delle pubbliche amministrazioni, a body which represents the public administration employers in negotiating activities) signed the national collective agreement covering the 2004-2005 economic contractual period after almost two years of extenuating negotiations, several actions of mobilisations and strikes.
The agreement concerns more than 1 million workers: 817,330 teachers and 244,230 auxiliary, technical and administrative employees. The agreement provides for an average monthly pay increase of EUR 130 and salary arrears amounting to 1,600. The agreement defines also progressive pay increases of EUR 330 for school collaborators and of EUR 1,000 for technical-administrative assistants, per year -which will concern about 25% of them.
Massimo Di Menna, general secretary of Uil Scuola, as well as the secretaries of the other two sectoral organisations, expressed his satisfaction with the agreement signed on the renewal of the pay provision of the school national collective agreement.
The trade unions are now asking to the Government to accelerate all the procedures for the formal approval of the agreement and to include in the 2005 budget law all the necessary resources for the renewal of the 2006-2009 national collective agreement.
Guglielmo Epifani, secretary general of the Cgil trade union confederation welcomed an 'agreement that school workers, who have seen of their wages loosing purchasing power, had been waiting for a long time'. According to Mr Epifani the agreement is also the result of the initiatives of the trade union which has always 'pretended from the Government the respect of the commitments taken and the pursue of a high-quality school system'.
Annamaria Furlan, confederate secretary of the Cisl trade union confederation has also expressed her satisfaction with the results achieved underlining that negotiations have been long and difficult but very successful thanks to the efforts of the trade union organisations which has insistently asked for the legitimate right to contract renewal and for the necessary recognition of workers’ professionalism.
A few weeks after the renewal of the national collective agreement for the school sector another agreement which had been pending for two years has been signed.
On 3 October 2005 the trade union organisations affiliated to Cgil, Cisl and Uil, respectively Funzione Pubblica (Fp-Cgil), Fps-Cisl and Uil-P.A signed the national collective agreement covering the 2004-2005 contractual period for public sector workers (Central administration). The agreement covers more than 200,000 public workers and provides for an average monthly pay increase of EUR 100 (EUR 90 EUR 10 to be destined to the productivity bonus). Workers will receive the pay increase in January 2004, February 2005 and December 2005. The agreement provides also for an increase in ticket restaurant, from EUR 4.65 (as set in 1996) to EUR 7.
Savino Pezzotta secretary general of Cisl expressed his satisfaction with the signature of the agreement considered a 'very good result and an important achievement both as regards the amount of the pay increase and the redistribution of productivity'.
Positive comments about the agreement signed come also from Adriano Musi, deputy secretary general of the Uil trade union confederation who highlighted the importance of the agreement reached, even if with a long delay, 'because it puts an end to a two-year long dispute recognising public workers purchasing power and the validity of the bargaining procedures as set by the July 1993 agreement.'
Fonti: www.rassegna.it (22 settembre 2005), www.ildiariodellavoro.it (22 e 23 settembre 2005, 4 ottobre 2005), Conquiste del lavoro, 22 settembre e 4 ottobre 2005
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