The General Confederation of Italian Workers (Cgil) has announced a four-hour national strike by all categories of workers for 12 March 2010. Cgil considers the measures adopted by the Italian government to counter the effects of the economic recession as inadequate. It calls for further social shock absorbers for workers hit by the crisis, a revision of immigration regulations and tax reform to relieve the pressure on work incomes and pensions.
The General Confederation of Italian Workers (Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro, Cgil) – the trade union confederation with the largest membership in Italy – has announced a four-hour general strike by all categories of workers in response to the government’s measures to counter the economic crisis, which Cgil deems inadequate. The announcement of the general strike was made in disagreement with the other two largest trade union confederations, the Italian Confederation of Workers’ Trade Unions (Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Lavoratori, Cisl) and the Union of Italian Workers (Unione Italiana del Lavoro, Uil). This reflects the split among the trade unions caused by the agreement on reform of the collective bargaining system signed by Cisl and Uil in January 2009 (IT0902059I).
List of demands
Cgil’s list of demands in relation to the strike announcement for 12 March 2010 consists of three elements:
- extension of the social shock absorbers (ammortizzatori sociali) (IT9802319F, IT0205204F) for workers affected by the economic recession;
- revision of the regulations on immigration;
- tax reform for workers and pensioners.
Extending social provisions
With regard to the social shock absorbers, Cgil is calling for unemployment benefit to be paid for a longer duration, and for redundancy benefit to be increased. The trade union confederation also demands that workers in the wages guarantee fund (Cassa Integrazione Guadagni, CIG) should receive training to upgrade their skills and chances of future employment.
Immigration reform
Following serious episodes of racism involving migrant workers in southern Italy, Cgil wants the government to suspend the current rules on immigration. By making the issue of a stay permit conditional on possession of an employment contract, these rules risk forcing into undeclared work migrant workers who lose their jobs because of the economic crisis. Cgil also demands the abolition of the crime of undeclared work as a penally prosecutable offence, which was recently introduced by the government for workers who have entered the country illegally.
Proposals on taxation
Cgil has presented its own proposal for fiscal reform through a press campaign entitled ‘Towards a fair tax system’, the main points of which are outlined below.
- Combating tax evasion – according to government estimates, tax evasion in Italy amounts to over €100 billion, and the illegal economy accounts for 24% of gross domestic product (GDP). To recover part of this evaded tax yield, Cgil asks the government to reinstate, by decree, the anti-evasion measures that it has repealed: principally, the traceability of payments and the obligation to attach client-supplier lists to income tax declarations.
- Agreement on fiscal legality – Cgil calls for the introduction of instruments to balance the simplification of income declaration procedures with the efficiency of controls: for example, through the introduction of a simplified declaration for value-added tax (VAT) for people with incomes of less than €30,000.
- Reform of personal income tax (Imposta sui Redditi delle Persone Fisiche, IRPEF) – the aims are: to increase net disposable income through larger allowances for expenses on income; to raise and standardise current exemptions for work incomes and pensions; to reduce tax rates from 23% to 20% and from 38% to 36%; and to grant tax rebates to persons unable to benefit from allowances because they earn insufficient income.
- Reform of property income tax – reiterating the need for harmonisation at European level, Cgil demands that a 20% tax rate, rather than the current 12.5%, be applied to incomes deriving from speculative financial operations.
- Introduction of a wealth tax – Cgil calls for the introduction of a new wealth tax based on the French model of the Impôt de solidarité sur la fortune applied to combined net assets in excess of about €800,000. According to Cgil, this measure, with different tax brackets and progressive rates, could produce an annual yield of about €5–6 billion.
- Young people – Cgil proposes the introduction of fiscal measures to support young people, such as tax relief to encourage study, training and creativity.
- Research, training and innovation – in relation to corporate tax, Cgil calls for the introduction of automatic tax credits for investment in research, innovation and training, with a view to tax rewards for corporate social responsibility.
Cristina Tajani, Fondazione Seveso