National agreement for tile and pottery industry renewed

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A new collective agreement signed on November 1998 for the Italian tile and pottery industry is very innovative in terms of: the new system of industrial relations that it establishes; the reduction of working hours for shiftworkers; and pay increases.

A new collective agreement for the tile and pottery industry, signed on 26 November 1998 by the sectoral trade union organisations Filcea-Cgil, Flerica-Cisl, Uilcer-Uil and the Assopiastrelle employers' organisation, introduces a new system of industrial relations at both national and company level.

At national level, the agreement provides for the creation of a "standing observatory" (osservatorio permanente) composed of the social partners' national representatives. This observatory will analyse and discuss in advance all the developments that might affect the tile and pottery sector and the possible solutions to overcome the industry's weaknesses. The observatory will deal, in particular, with the following subjects:

• national and international market trends, investment policies, productive and commercial policies and their consequences for employment;

• analysis of technological innovations and of their consequences for work organisation, employment, training programmes and workers' reskilling;

• use of national and European incentives for industrial innovation;

• company bargaining trends;

• problems linked to working time and its organisation, especially in relation to international competitiveness and to the implementation of new experimental forms of working time organisation at company level; and

• employment trends, in particular employment of young people and of women, and new innovative forms of recruitment on fixed-term contracts, especially in companies located in the South of Italy.

A "joint committee "(comitato misto) will be created within the observatory to identify what companies can do through information and training initiatives to:

• facilitate employment for people in a disadvantaged position on the labour market (women, people with disabilities etc);

• promote investments aimed at protecting workers' health and safety; and

• promote safety, environmental and infrastructure policies at local level.

The agreement also provides for a new system of industrial relations for "industrial groups" (gruppi industriali) and for individual companies.

According to the agreement, "industrial groups" are all those enterprises that have plants located in a number of different regions and are relevant for the sector. In such groups, the social partners will meet at least once a year to discuss production perspectives, innovation and investment policies and their consequences for job security and the environment, and to deal with subjects related to employment and active labour policies. During these meetings, the companies will have to explain and submit to the unions their accounts.

The same procedures also apply to companies with more than 150 employees, while for companies with between 101 and 150 employees, information will be supplied in a written form to local sectoral trade union organisations.

The agreement also: increases the number of safety representatives elected by workers and defines in detail their tasks; and explains how workers can take part in continuing training initiatives that will be negotiated at company level, or at local territorial level for companies with fewer than 100 employees. On working time and pay increases, the deal makes the following main provisions:

• working time accounts. A personal "hours account" (""conto ore) has been established. From 1 January 2000, half of the overtime hours worked by employees will be paid. Workers will be able to decide either to set aside the remaining 50% and use them later for personal leave or to participate in training initiatives, or to cash them in;

• reduction of working time. Employees who work in a three-shift system, including a night shift, will enjoy a reduction of working time of 12 hours per year from 1 January 2000, while employees in a two-shift system will enjoy an annual reduction of four hours. Workers with over 15 years' service will have two extra days of paid annual leave from 20 June 2002; and

• pay. The pay increase reflects the guidelines of the July 1993 national intersectoral tripartite agreement (IT9803223F). The average increase is ITL 89,000 per month, plus a one-off, across-the-board payment of ITL 280,000.

The trade union organisations expressed - through Sergio Gigli, national secretary of Flerica-Cisl - their satisfaction with the outcomes of the negotiation. The new tile and pottery agreement has similarities with the agreement for chemicals sector, signed in June 1998, that ran into opposition from the Confindustria employers' confederation (IT9806325F).