New agreement signed for school teachers

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In March 1999, after 10 months of talks, trade unions and public employers signed a preliminary deal on a new national agreement for Italy's school teachers. The main innovations concern pay, with increases in excess of those elsewhere in the public sector, plus pay incentives. The deal lays the basis for a profound change in the employment relationship in schools.

Renewal of the national collective agreement for school teachers is always of great importance in Italy, mainly because school personnel (of whom there are around 1 million) constitute the largest group of public sector employees. Moreover, industrial relations in schools display distinctive characteristics compared with the rest of the public sector: the unionisation rate is lower than in other areas, and the fragmentation of representation, with a strong presence of autonomous trade unions, is particularly marked.

Renewal of the teachers' agreement has on this occasion also assumed particular importance, because it has coincided with profound change in the Italian educational system. From the institutional point of view, the Italian schools system has traditionally been highly centralised, with the Ministry of Education being wholly responsible for its organisation, contents, financing, and so on. Although reform of the schools system has been on the political agenda for decades, conflict on the issue among the actors concerned (the parties, the relevant authorities, teaching staff, the trade unions) has delayed change in the system, although some innovations have been gradually introduced. A reform is now underway which aims to decentralise powers, giving increased financial, organisational and teaching autonomy to schools. This process requires changes in the employment relationship. To date, an egalitarian philosophy has prevailed in schools as regards both pay and working conditions.

The new agreement

On 3 March 1999, after negotiations which lasted for 10 months, a preliminary accord on a new national agreement was signed by Aran, the public sector bargaining agency, the Cgil, Cisl and Uil trade union confederations and an autonomous union, the National Autonomous Union of School Workers (Sindacato nazionale autonomo dei lavoratori della scuola, Snals). The most innovative aspects of the agreement concern pay, which is an issue of particular importance, given that teachers' salaries in Italy are lower than in the majority of EU countries.

Firstly, the deal provides for a monthly pay increase of ITL 210,000 over the two-year period 1999-2001 - an increase larger than that contained in other public sector agreements signed in recent months, such as those for ministries (IT9808329F) and local public bodies (IT9811187N).

Secondly, an important novelty is that pay incentives are envisaged for school teachers, with the specific criteria to be determined by decentralised bargaining. The national agreement, however, defines the categories of teachers who will qualify for the incentives:

• teachers of special merit. From 2001 onwards, teachers with at least 10 years' teaching experience can apply to be assessed on their professional development and teaching skills. Those who pass the appraisal will receive a pay increase of ITL 6 million per year;

• teachers with coordination duties. From 1 September 1999, teachers (not more than five per school) who have been nominated by the staff council to undertake organisational duties will receive an incentive of ITL 3 million per year; and

• teachers working in, or willing to transfer to, areas singled out by the Ministry of Education as being "at risk" (due to factors like youth crime and high school drop-out rates) will receive a pay increase of ITL 300,000-ITL 400,000 per month.

Reactions to the agreement have been mixed. According to the Minister of Education, Luigi Berlinguer, the important aspect of the agreement is that it raises the status of teachers and recognises their professional merit. For Cgil, Cisl, Uil and Snals, the innovations introduced by the contract will give a major impetus to reform of the schools system. By contrast, vehement criticism has been voiced by the Cobasautonomous rank-and-file committees, which argue that introducing the pay incentives will lead to fragmentation and a more hierarchical structure among teachers.

The definitive signing of the agreement will take place after the process of holding school staff assemblies to discuss it, which began in mid-March 1999, is concluded. Cgil, Cisl and Uil, and Snals have announced that they are certain that the preliminary agreement will be approved, while the Cobas have launched a series of initiatives against the deal, including announcement of a two-day strike.

Commentary

The innovations introduced by the collective agreement are in line with the effort to reform the Italian school system. At a time when greater organisational and teaching autonomy of individual schools is seen as a factor that should increase the dynamism and innovative capacity of the Italian schools system, it is essential that the role of teachers should be enhanced. Teachers are a group among whom factors like low salaries, uniform pay scales and scant reward for merit have created a widespread sense of frustration and demotivation. From this point of view, the introduction of performance-related pay increases is a positive development.

However, on their own the pay incentives are not enough: it is also necessary to define the criteria for awarding them, and controls are required to prevent "cronyism" and discrimination. Consequently, the decentralised bargaining which will define the criteria will be crucial.

Another problem is the amount of resources available. The fact that the pay increases awarded to teachers are higher than those for other public sector employees can be taken as indicative of the fact that greater resources will be allocated to schools - an area where public spending is lower than in many other European countries. However, this poses the problem of finding finance for the extra spending. There is a danger that only a limited amount of funding will be allocated, thereby creating disparity of treatment among potential beneficiaries.

A third problem concerns the implementation of these innovations in light of the strong resistance to change in schools, as highlighted by the reaction of the Cobas, which have a certain following among teachers. (Marco Trentini, Ires Lombardia)