Majority approval for policy document at 16th Cgil congress

The General Confederation of Italian Workers (CGIL) held its 16th congress in Rimini from 5 to 8 May 2010. Guglielmo Epifani was re-elected General Secretary of CGIL, and the policy document presented by him was approved by a majority of the delegates. The general secretaries of the Italian Confederation of Workers’ Unions and the Union of Italian Workers also attended the congress, despite some serious divisions between the three main trade unions in Italy.

The General Confederation of Italian Workers (Cgil) is Italy’s largest trade union organisation with more than 5.7 million members. The confederation’s 16th congress (in Italian) in Rimini took place during the serious global financial crisis and amid tensions between Cgil and the other two major Italian trade unions – the Italian Confederation of Workers’ Unions (Cisl) and the Union of Italian Workers (Uil). These tensions arose following an agreement to reform the bargaining system reached on 22 January 2009, which was signed by Cisl and Uil but not by Cgil (IT0902059I).

A total of 1,039 delegates participated in the congress. During the event, Cgil’s statute was modified, the confederation’s policy document was approved and Guglielmo Epifani was re-elected as General Secretary.

Approved policy document

Participants at the Cgil congress debated two opposing documents: ‘Rights and work after the crisis’, presented by Mr Epifani, and ‘The Cgil we want’, presented by a minority group (IT0912019I). In the 62,049 workplace assemblies held to discuss the matter, the first document received about 82% of the votes (1,500,800 votes) while the second won just 17% of the votes (about 308,000). The congress approved the document signed by Mr Epifani, with 78% voting in favour.

The approved document underlines the divisions between Cgil and the other two major trade unions, and also highlights the serious implications of having a separate agreement concerning the bargaining system. Nevertheless, the document emphasises the importance of overcoming these differences and finding a new joint bargaining system. A sign of Cgil’s willingness to collaborate can be seen in the fact that a number of sectoral National Collective Agreements, using the new system, have been jointly signed (IT1005019I, IT1004019I, IT1001029I, IT0910029I, IT0911019I).

The policy document emphasises the importance of defending and developing trade union democracy and increasing worker participation. It also mentions the need to extend second-level bargaining. It considers the government’s measures for dealing with the financial crisis to be inadequate and makes a series of proposals regarding sustainable development, as well as relaunching a plan to promote employment levels.

There are a number of ‘fundamental’ proposals in the document. These include the reform of the system of ‘social shock absorbers’ to eliminate any differences according to type of work. Other proposals include the reduction of taxation on income from employment and pensions, a move to eliminate the differences between public and private sector work, and the reform of immigration control and regularisation of foreign workers.

Modifications to Cgil statute

A number of changes have been made to Article 16 of Cgil’s statute which defines the duties of the union’s managing committee elected by congress delegates. These amendments mostly concern the procedures for the approval of policy and interconfederal agreements. A minority of delegates to the congress wanted confederal agreements to be evaluated by the sectoral union federations before being definitively discussed by the managing committee. However, the majority voted to allow the managing committee to have the final say regarding the approval of such agreements.

A minority of voters also expressed their disappointment that no clause was approved establishing that opposition to motions presented to the national congress should be discussed in all territorial assemblies and workplaces.

Social partner reactions

On the opening day of the congress, the General Secretary of Cisl, Raffaele Bonanni, and his counterpart at Uil, Luigi Angeletti, received a hostile reception from the floor. Nevertheless, the policy document that received majority approval expresses the clear intention of Cgil to reunite with the other confederations. The general secretaries of Cisl and Uil reacted positively to Mr Epifani’s proposals. In his speech, Mr Bonanni stated that trade union unity was an absolute must and Angeletti defended the new system of collective bargaining, but declared his willingness to work towards trade union unity.

The President of the General Confederation of Italian Industry (Confindustria), Emma Marcegaglia, has underlined the fairness and utility of the agreement of 22 January 2009, and said that she hopes that Cgil will reconsider its decision not to sign the agreement.

Sofia Sanz and Vilma Rinolfi, Cesos