In December 2004, Italy's National Workplace Accident Insurance Institute issued preliminary figures indicating an overall reduction of 1.6% in work-related accidents over the year.
In November 2004, a new national collective agreement was signed for Italy's 117,000 local public transport workers. As well as providing for a wage rise, the agreement regulates the use of new forms of employment in the sector and improves the pay position of new recruits.
Over 1.1 million Italian public sector workers voted in elections to Rsu workplace representation bodies in November 2004. Projections indicate that trade unions affiliated to the three main confederations (Cgil, Cisl and Uil) won the great majority of the vote.
A new national collective agreement for Italy's 80,000 industrial managers was signed in November 2004 by the Confindustria employers' confederation and the Federmanager managers' association. The agreement, which has a longer duration than its predecessors, reforms the pay system, increases
On 30 November 2004, the main Italian trade union confederations held a one-day general strike in protest against the government's economic and financial policy - especially the 2005 national budget and a recent tax reform - and called on the government to start negotiations with the social partners
In November 2004, Italy's three main trade union confederations (Cgil, Cisl and Uil) and 13 employers’ organisations signed an agreement that calls for a range of measures aimed at relaunching the economy of the South of Italy. The social partners will present the document to the government and ask
In October 2004, trade unions and employers’ organisations in Italy's crisis-hit textiles sector signed a joint document on industrial policy. The social partners will present the document to the government and ask it to include measures to help the industry in the 2005 state budget.
September and October 2004 saw a series of agreements aimed at restructuring and relaunching Italy's troubled national airline, Alitalia. Agreements have been signed within the company changing the employment conditions of pilots, flight attendants and ground staff, and on a restructuring plan and
In September 2004, the International Centre for the Study of Family Issues (Cisf) held a conference to present the results of a project conducted in Brianza (Milan), aimed at supporting the reintegration into employment of working mothers after maternity leave. The project highlighted major problems
In July 2004, the Italian parliament approved a 'proxy law' on reform of the pension system. The main changes include reduced access to early retirement on 'seniority pensions' (based on length of contribution history), new ways of financing supplementary pension funds, and incentives to encourage