Collective agreement signed in textiles sector

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A new collective agreement for the Italian textiles sector was signed on 26 March 2000. The most innovative aspects of the agreement concern working time: besides the introduction of an "hours bank" and an increase in the use of part-time work (to a maximum of 8% of the workforce), the agreement allows firms to use flexible working hours in unforeseen circumstances.

The textiles and clothing sector is of central importance for the Italian production system, the competitiveness of which is partly due to the performance of such traditional sectors. A distinctive feature of the textiles sector in Italy is the large number of small firms organised around the "industrial district" model: that is, a strong specialisation of production at the local level.

Since the 1990s, the Italian textiles sector has been undergoing a phase of profound change, and some signs of difficulty emerged in the course of 1999. According to estimates by Sistema Moda Italia, an association of a number of firms in the sector, during 1999 the volume of sales fell by 1.5% from 1998 figures, while exports diminished by 5.1% and imports rose by 7% (quoted in the il Sole 24 ore newspaper on 18 February 2000). According to some operators, the Italian textiles sector is losing its competitiveness, a tendency which is explained by various factors:

• competition from developing countries, especially in more highly labour-intensive manufacturing;

• economic trends in the European countries, where growth rates have been modest; and

• changes in both domestic and foreign demand, which is shifting towards less expensive products.

To tackle these difficulties, Italian firms have adopted various strategies. One consists of the relocation in developing countries of the production of low-quality products and of more labour-intensive activities (spinning and weaving, for instance). It is precisely this relocation that accounts for the recent increase in imports, the bulk of which are from the countries of South-East Asia and especially China. By contrast, activities with higher value-added tend to be kept in Italy. There are two strategies deemed fundamental for competitive success: innovation and high product quality - in terms of the textiles used, design, and marks and logos certifying respect for the environment and that child labour has not been used in production ("IT9803153N)."

Main points of new agreement

On 26 March 2000, the Federation of the Associations of Textiles and Clothing Companies (Federazione tra le Associazioni delle Industrie Tessili e Abbigliamento, Federtessile) - a member of the Confindustria employers' association - and the sectoral trade unions affiliated to the main confederations, Filtea-Cgil, Filta-Cisl and Uilta-Uil, signed a preliminary agreement on the renewal of the collective agreement for the textiles and clothing sector for the four-year period 2000-3. It is expected that the agreement will have been definitively signed by the end of April 2000.

Negotiations were somewhat complicated by the contrasting positions taken up by the employers' association and the unions. The main points at dispute were flexibility and the spread of company-level bargaining in small firms, which the unions seek. Negotiation on some controversial issues has been postponed.

As far as flexibility is concerned, innovations have been introduced mainly with regard to working time. The flexibility of working hours is of crucial importance for firms in the textiles sector, which must be able to adjust output to changes in demand.

The basic number of contractual weekly working hours in textiles is 40, divided into five days of eight hours. As well the possibility of organising the working hours schedule differently in certain periods on the basis of an annual plan, the new collective agreement has introduced so-called "timely flexibility" (flessibilità tempestiva). In the event of unexpected variations in demand, firms may - for a limited period of time - increase or reduce the normal weekly hours laid down in the agreement. They must give the company-level union representative body, the Rsu, five days' notice, after which they may change the working hours. The information to the Rsu covers aspects such as the departments and workers involved, the period envisaged for the increase or decrease in working hours, and the amount of the hours variation. Together with the Rsu, the firm must also define how the new working hours schedule is to be implemented. For hours in excess of the normal weekly level, the workers involved will receive a pay premium of 21%.

Another innovation is the "hours bank" (banca delle ore). Every worker may set aside 32 hours per year of overtime in a personal bank, to which can be added the four days of leave to which workers are entitled for former public holidays now abolished. On request of the worker, the hours accumulated in his or her bank can be used for extra time off.

The use of part-time work is encouraged in order to increase flexibility. For this purpose, the maximum permissible level of part-time workers in a firm has been set at 8% of the permanent workforce.

The agreement provides for an average monthly pay increase of ITL 65,000, to be paid in two instalments, the first in May 2000, the second in February 2001. Moreover, workers employed before 30 April 2000 will receive a one-off payment of ITL 120,000.

Finally, the agreement contains a pledge to reformjob classifications, especially for intermediate positions, and to begin talks on introducing new types of flexible employment contracts, such as job-sharing.

Commentary

Renewal of the collective agreement in the textiles sector took place at a particularly problematic time, given the changes currently in progress in the industry. The objective of repositioning Italian firms in processes with higher value-added and quality requires considerable innovative capacity as regards both products and production processes. For firms, flexibility is a key factor in achieving competitive success. They consider working time flexibility to be of special importance, in that it enables them to adjust production to seasonal changes in demand and to deal with unexpected orders. It should also be borne in mind that other forms of flexibility, such as functional flexibility, are favoured by the small size of many of the firms operating in the sector.

In the textiles sector (as well as in other Italian sectors) flexibilisation has predominantly been regulated by means of collective bargaining. In this way, an attempt has been made to reconcile the needs of firms with those of workers. This explains the positive comments on the new agreement expressed by both Federtessile and the trade union organisations. (Marco Trentino, Ires Lombardia)