Multi-industry agreement signed on apprenticeship in the artisan sector

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In October 1998, the Italian associations for artisanal enterprises - Confartigianato, Cna, Claai, and Casa - signed a multi-industry agreement with the Cgil, Cisl and Uil trade unions, aimed at creating a single training model for artisan apprentices.

In the framework of active labour market policies, those tools and policies designed to make the transition from school to work easier are very important. In this context, trade union organisations and employers' organisations decided in the framework of the 1993 central tripartite agreement to give a new structure to apprenticeship, which was going through a serious crisis. The reorganisation of this type of employment relationship was fostered by the government, which financed the social partners to experiment on a large scale with new forms of apprenticeship. The experimental project has funds worth about ITL 60 billion.

The redefinition of apprenticeship was the object of long negotiations between trade unions - Cgil, Cisl and Uil- and organisations representing employers in the artisanal sector - Confartiginato, Cna, Claai and Casa- which on 8 October 1998 signed an agreement that covers the whole sector.

The agreement has two main objectives: researching innovative and streamlined models for the artisan training system, able to overcome the present separation between apprenticeship and vocational training; and developing common training models for each industry to be adopted by all artisanal companies. The development of the training models will be the outcome of a national project that the social partners will submit to the Ministry of Labour. The project will be financed by theEuropean Social Fund and by some national resources managed by the Ministry.

During the experimental phase of the project, various training models, developed at regional level, will be verified in order to guarantee local specificity. Social partners will identify the sectors, the territorial areas and the occupational profiles to be the subject of the experimentation at regional level, which will last two years and involve about 10,000 apprentices. At the end of this period, a standard training model for each industry will be defined and will constitute the generalised reference model for the artisan sector. Artisan companies that use this model will be able to have access to national, regional and/or European public funds.

A committee appointed to coordinate the project - composed of representatives of the Ministries of Labour and of the Regions and of the social partners which signed the agreement - will be charged with carrying out an "in-progress" evaluation of the experimental training models. The Minister of Labour, Tiziano Treu, and the signatory parties expressed their satisfaction at the results achieved in the agreement.