The 12th congress of Italy's Uil trade union confederation was held in Bologna on 4-6 February 1998. The key issues under discussion were the introduction of the 35-hour working week and union unity.
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The 12th congress of Italy's Uil trade union confederation was held in Bologna on 4-6 February 1998. The key issues under discussion were the introduction of the 35-hour working week and union unity.
The Union of Italian Workers (Unione Italiana del Lavoro, Uil) - the smallest of the three main Italian trade union confederations - held its 12th congress in Bologna on 4-6 February 1998. The congress concluded a process which began in September 1997 and which involved 160,000 delegates: sectoral federations held 1,590 conferences at provincial level, 162 at regional level and 22 at national level; while there were 106 confederal provincial conferences and 20 confederal regional conferences. Through this process, 1,024 delegates (of whom 24% were women) were elected to represent 1,748,185 members.
High on the congress agenda was the Government's plan to introduce a 35-hour working week by legislation (IT9711216F). The Uil secretary general, Pietro Larizza, expressed his disagreement with a law establishing a working week of 35 hours, because it would go against the practice of dialogue and cooperation established by the social partners. According to Mr Larizza, Uil must oppose any possible law which would reduce the working week at the same wage, as this would mean the exclusion of unions and companies from the management of pay policy for a long period, omitting the other two elements of incomes policy - prices and tariffs.
The second important item on the agenda was the move towards unity between the three union confederations - Cgil, Cisl and Uil (IT9707307F). Speaking to the congress, the secretary general of Cisl, Sergio D'Antoni called for unity to be achieved quickly. Mr Larizza stated that "unity cannot be reached through a decree", while proposing the establishment of a unitary body in Brussels to monitor employment problems at European level.
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