Electrolux-Zanussi participation agreement renewed

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On 21 July 1997, the Italian subsidiaries of the Electrolux-Zanussi group and trade unions agreed to relaunch the company's participative industrial relations system, which had broken down earlier in the year.

For Electrolux-Zanussi, 21 July 1997 marked not only the end of an unstable phase of negotiations and breakdowns in talks, which jeopardised the future of one of the most advanced workers' participation models in Europe, but also the date of the signing of a "single text on the participation system" by the board of directors and the general secretaries of the metalworking sector trade unions - Fiom-Cgil (Claudio Sabattini), Fim-Cisl (Pier Paolo Baretta) and Uilm-Uil (Luigi Angeletti). This agreement re-establishes - with some modifications - the participative industrial relations system which was halted by the company's management at the end of June 1997, following a series of clashes with the trade unions (IT9706206F).

The previous agreement on participation ran aground owing to the hostility of several Fiom-Cgil company trade union representatives, arising from the activities of the bilateral bodies established by the old agreement.

In order to resume the participation procedures, the company asked, in particular, that a sanction mechanism for the RSU (Rappresentanza Sindacale Unitaria) - the workers' representative body responsible for repeated violations of the participation rules and regulations - should be included in the agreement. It was for this reason that Fiom originally broke away from the talks, despite the fact that Fim and Uilm were not in agreement.

Following an intervention by the Federation of Metalworking Industries (Federmeccanica) the bargaining process started up again and the dispute over a sanction mechanism was resolved by allocating a wider range of tasks to the commission which oversees the agreement. This commission is made up of three company representatives, three trade union representatives and an external president (jointly selected) and its task is to act as a watchdog, ensuring that all of the participative rules are respected. In cases where there is not complete unanimity in the commission, it will appeal to a two-person "jury". The jury, as well as making decisions in situations of disagreement between the partners, will also be called on to make decisions concerning any violations by either party.

The sanctions available to the jury primarily include: the removal of paid time off for those trade union representatives guilty of continuous violations; and financial fines in the case of default by the company.

The following comments from the social partners were reported in the Sole 24 Ore newspaper on 22 July: "this is a wise move, and makes us much more hopeful for the future" (Gian Mario Rossignolo, president of Electrolux-Zanussi); "those who proclaimed the end of participation have been defeated" (Pier Paolo Baretta, Fim-Cisl); "competitiveness and employment can be relaunched through participation" (Luigi Angeletti, Uilm-Uil); the agreement "interpreted and practised in the correct manner will make a significant contribution to the development of industrial relations" (Claudio Sabattini, Fiom-Cgil).