Collective agreement signed at steel giant Tenaris-Dalmine
Published: 26 April 2007
On 23 February 2007, a company-level collective agreement was signed at Tenaris-Dalmine, one of the most important European companies in the steel industry. The company has four plants in total, situated in the north and northwest of Italy: the Dalmine and Costa Volpino plants located in the province of Bergamo, the Arcore plant situated in the province of Milan and the Piombino plant located in the province of Livorno.
At the end of February 2007, a company-level agreement was signed at the Tenaris-Dalmine steel company, following almost a year of debate. Tenaris-Dalmine has four plants, the main plant being located in the northwest of Italy. All of the four plants’ 3,300 employees have expressed their approval of the agreement through a referendum. The agreement introduces some new elements, such as providing greater job security for short-term workers, new rules for health and safety monitoring, and a performance and quality-related bonus increase.
On 23 February 2007, a company-level collective agreement was signed at Tenaris-Dalmine, one of the most important European companies in the steel industry. The company has four plants in total, situated in the north and northwest of Italy: the Dalmine and Costa Volpino plants located in the province of Bergamo, the Arcore plant situated in the province of Milan and the Piombino plant located in the province of Livorno.
Over the previous 14 months, workers and management at the company had been engaged in discussions on different aspects concerning the renewal of the company collective agreement, which had expired in 2005. The workers had held about 40 hours of strike action overall; however, in the end, all parties seemed satisfied with the final agreement.
Bargaining process
The negotiations included local representatives of the Italian Metalworkers’ Federation (Federazione Italiana Metalmeccanici, Fim-Cisl), the Federation of White-collar and Blue-collar Metalworkers (Federazione Impiegati Operai Metalmeccanici, Fiom-Cgil), and the Italian Metalworkers Union (Unione Italiana Lavoratori Metalmeccanici, Uilm-Uil) from the northern towns of Bergamo, Valle Camonica and Sebino, Brianza and Piombino. Representatives of the unitary workplace union structure (RSU) also took part in the negotiations, along with the management of Tenaris-Dalmine and two representatives of the local branch of the General Confederation of Italian Industry (Confederazione Generale dell’Industria Italiana, Confindustria), Confindustria Bergamo.
Before the agreement could fully come into force, it first had to receive the approval of all workers. A referendum was therefore held on 13–15 March 2007, in order to determine the votes of all 3,300 workers at the company’s four plants.
The results of the referendum indicated that a majority of workers were in favour of the agreement (see Table). The highest percentage of workers in favour of the agreement was recorded at the Piombino plant, where almost 90% of the workers voted in favour of the agreement; the lowest percentage was recorded at the Arcore plant, where just over half (51.1%) of the workers voted in its favour.
| Plant | No. of voters | No. in favour | % in favour | No. against | % against |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalmine–Sabbio | 1,687 | 1,216 | 72 | 457 | 27 |
| Costa Volpino | 230 | 176 | 76.5 | 54 | 23.5 |
| Piombino | 132 | 118 | 89.4 | 13 | 9.8 |
| Arcore | 223 | 115 | 51.5 | 105 | 47 |
| Total | 2,272 | 1,625 | 71.5 | 629 | 27.7 |
Source: Data published by the works council’s representatives of Tenaris-Dalmine, available on the websites of all the signatory trade unions organisations
Content of agreement
Industrial relations provisions
With respect to the industrial relations process, the company will empower the four bilateral commissions responsible for work organisation, training, health and safety, and outsourcing. Furthermore, as Tenaris-Dalmine recently established a significant presence in eastern Europe through the acquisition of Silcotub, a leading Romanian company in the steel sector, it was proposed that the RSU should meet with the representative trade union in Romania and with the management of both plants.
In relation to the labour rights of Tenaris-Dalmine, the company agreed on the creation of a training course aimed at raising the awareness of all works council representatives on the new function of ‘social works council representative’. From now on, the latter representative will be expected to identify any sense of unease felt by the workers in the work environment. These problems will then be solved in partnership with local social services. Furthermore, the representative in charge of health and safety at the workplace will have greater authority, also in respect of the companies contracting to Tenaris-Dalmine.
Target-related bonuses and increases
The economic achievements of the agreement are considered to be significant. It should be noted that the document describing the new elements introduced by the agreement did not specify whether the increases are gross or net, but usually these data are expressed in their gross value. The main initiatives in this respect are as follows:
adjustments have been introduced in the various forms of allowances, with increases ranging from a minimum of 15% to a maximum of 50% in relation to some benefits. For instance, at the Dalmine steel plant, the increase will amount to about €100 a month, which is the equivalent of an increase of 37%;
a substantial increment of the ‘quality and productivity-related bonus’ was agreed on, both in terms of its fixed amount and in the variable part. It was calculated that this bonus will be increased by about €850 a year on average, amounting to an increase which corresponds to half of the bonus itself;
an experimental bonus for risk prevention was introduced, aimed at improving prevention of accidents in the workplace. Once implemented, the bonus will amount to €280 for health and safety operators and to €400 for technical professionals and those responsible for different working shifts. Furthermore, the bonus is likely to be revised and raised if it proves successful in improving safety standards;
a small adjustment to the company’s performance-related bonus has been introduced, which was supposed to amount to about €5,000 a year in 2006.
Labour market
In terms of innovations related to the labour market, the agreement proved significant in stipulating that the ‘open-ended employment contract’ is to be the main type of contract to which the company shall refer. In light of this, it was established that temporary workers recruited from temporary work agencies would be hired on an open-ended contract of employment after 12 months of working for the company. Most of the abovementioned bonuses and increases also relate to temporary workers.
Reactions to agreement
The company management has not issued any statement, but the signatory trade unions have expressed their enthusiastic approval of the agreement.
A representative of Fim-Cisl in Bergamo, Ferdinando Uliano, declared that: ‘It has been a hard and complex case, but the final result actually compensated all the efforts’. In particular, Mr Uliano referred to the important achievement in terms of salary increases and of innovative regulations.
The same positive view was shared by Mirco Rota of Fiom-Cgil in Bergamo, who commented that: ‘The economic success of the Tenaris Group has been shared and recognised by workers too, through the bonus and incentives system approved in the deal, as the trade unions had initially asked for. As for the regulation introduced with regard to the labour market, it will affect positively the stabilisation within the company of those workers now employed on a short-term contract.’
Commentary
It is a common practice in the Italian metalworking industry to have a company-level ‘pre-contract’ – that is, whereby the deal reached between trade union representatives and management is formally signed by trade unions after workers have expressed their approval through a referendum.
Besides achieving meaningful increases in terms of pay and benefits, this latest company-level collective agreement shows how the open-ended contract still represents an important issue in collective bargaining. In many debates involving trade unions in the metalwork sector, their position has always been to defend this traditional type of contract.
Manuela Galetto, Ires Lombardia
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2007), Collective agreement signed at steel giant Tenaris-Dalmine, article.
