Cisl organises demonstration without other union confederations

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In October 1999, the Italian government's proposed budget law led to a further worsening of the already strained relations between the two largest trade union organisations, Cisl and Cgil. Cisl strongly disagreed with the government's budget proposals and organised a national demonstration for November 1999 in Rome, without the other unions.

The divergence of opinions between the Cisl and Cgil trade union confederations has been continually increasing (IT9909345F). After Cgil's rejection of new moves towards trade union unity (IT9905113N), the relations between the two confederations have worsened once again due to disagreements over the main aspects of union strategy, such as: the meaning of "concertation"; the current pensions reform; the draft law on joint workplace trade union structures (Rappresentanze sindacali unitarie, Rsu s), which is at present under discussion (IT9804226F); the bargaining system; and subjects such as work flexibility and wage policy (IT9904339F and IT9908251F).

At the beginning of October 1999, the government presented its proposed budget law for 2000. Cgil and the third main union confederation, Uil, were satisfied with the proposals while Cisl immediately expressed its disagreement. The points which attracted most criticism from Cisl were:

• the perceived inadequate attention given to inflation, which is twice the European average and which, besides eroding the purchasing power of pay and pensions, contributes to reducing the competitiveness of Italian industry;

• the perceived lack of clear decisions about the amount of tax reductions to be given to families. In the December 1998 tripartite "social pact for development and employment" (IT9901335F), the government had committed itself to reducing the tax burden on families from 1999 by the equivalent of the amount of money collected through the fight to tax evasion. Cisl complains that all the promises have not been kept and that the government has not honoured its commitments, because it has postponed the possible reductions to 2001;

• the perceived absence of a clear development policy, in particular in southern regions where unemployment is at very high levels; and

• the fact that negotiations have not begun over the renewal of national collective agreements for the public administration.

Segio Cofferati, secretary general of Cgil, stated that Cisl's criticisms are wrong because they ignore the important results achieved by the trade unions in improving some sections of the budget law. Sergio D'Antoni, secretary general of Cisl, declared, on the contrary, that such limited results have been achieved thanks to the intervention of Cis and that, in order to achieve further results, it will continue with regional and national initiatives. The Cisl executive committee has thus organised a national demonstration, which will take place in Rome on 20 November 1999, to protest against the government's policy. This is the first time since the mid-1980s - when the trade unions had diverging opinions about the sliding scale pay indexation mechanism - that Cgil, Cisl or Uil have organised separate demonstrations.

Another reason behind the strained relations between Cisl and Cgil is a dispute over the Labour Day annual meeting that the three union confederations usually organise on 1 May. In 2000, Cisl wants instead to take part in the celebrations being organised for global labour day by the "Great Jubilee" committee (IT9906116N), while Cgil wants to organise the traditional rock concert at San Giovanni in Rome. Uil proposed a compromise: united participation in both celebrations, one during the afternoon and the other during the morning.

However, two extremely serious events recently cooled down the heated discussions among the unions. Five months after the murder in May 1999 of Massimo D'Antona, a union-linked labour law expert, by the "Red Brigades" (Brigate Rosse) terrorist group (IT9905112N), the symbol of the terrorist group (a star with five points) appeared on the wall of the Cisl national office. Moreover, on 17 October 1999 some unknown people belonging to the so-called "fighting communist column" (Colonna comunista combattente) broke into the private apartment of the organisational secretary of Cisl, Graziano Treré, and left a leaflet threatening Mr. Treré and other officials of the three union confederations. These officials, according to the terrorists, are responsible for the creation of the "neo-corporatist" project which is at the basis of the proposed new law on the Rsus which is currently under discussion in parliament.

The threat of terrorism menacing the trade unions has cooled down the recent conflicts. After a meeting among the organisational secretaries and general secretaries of Cgil, Cisl and Uil over the organisation of events on 1 May 2000, all parties agreed that the celebrations cannot take place in a divided way.