Renewal of supplementary contract for electrical appliance company workers

In December 2006, a draft supplementary agreement was signed between the Italian trade unions representing workers in the metalworking and mechanical engineering sector and the Italian Indesit Company group. The main provisions of the agreement relate to wage increases, employment issues and industrial policy.

The Italian Indesit Company group, a market leader in the European electrical appliance sector, employs more than 6,000 workers at eight different plants located in the cities of Fabriano (Ancona province), Ascoli Piceno, Bergamo, Pinerolo (Turin province) and Caserta (Caserta province). On 13 December 2006, the trade unions representing the workers in the metalworking and mechanical engineering sector, the coordinating organisation of the company trade union representatives (RSU) and the Indesit Company group signed an agreement for the renewal of the supplementary contract for the group’s workers. The three trade unions involved and affiliated to the main trade union confederations included the Italian Federation of White-Collar and Blue-Collar Metalworkers (Federazione Impiegati Operai Metallurgici, Fiom-Cgil), the Italian Federation of Metalworkers (Federazione Italiana Metalmeccanici, Fim-Cisl) and the Italian Metalworkers’ Union (Unione Italiana Lavoratori Metalmeccanici, Uilm-Uil).

Content of agreement

The main provisions of the agreement, which will cover the two-year period 2007–2009, relate to wage increases, employment issues and industrial policy.

Wage increases

In terms of wages, the agreement stipulates an increase of the target-based bonus by approximately €903, before tax, in 2007; once in progress, in 2009, it will increase to €3,500. Furthermore, backdated to start on 1 January 2007, workers are meant to receive an additional fixed amount of €30 in their pay packet for 13 months (with the 13th month reflecting a year-end bonus), plus a single payment of €180 before tax.

Employment issues

In relation to employment conditions, the signatory parties have agreed to convert more than 300 temporary employment contracts into permanent, open-ended contracts during the period of the agreement’s validity: namely, 99 such contracts in 2007, 130 contracts in 2008 and 95 in 2009. The agreement also defines a maximum time limit for workers to remain in temporary employment which, as of 1 January 2007, is set at 36 months. However, on 1 January 2009, this time limit will decrease to 30 months with a possibility of extending the limit to 34 months.

Industrial policy

The company aims to strengthen relations with its workforce further on the basis of discussion and collective bargaining, as the agreement reinforces the current system of industrial relations and the participation system. Through information and consultation procedures, the company will also provide information on its purchasing policies, suppliers and outsourced activities.

In addition to the economic and regulatory part of the agreement, the supplementary agreement contains additional chapters, such as those relating to the following:

• industrial policy – during the next two years, the company will make investments in Italy totalling €80 million. Some of this funding will be earmarked for research and development while a certain amount of this investment will go towards upgrading the production activities of the company’s eight plants in Italy;

• equal opportunities – the agreement envisaged the setting up of an Equal Opportunities Commission. The commission is composed of three company representatives and three employee representatives, one each from Fim-Cisl, Uilm-Uil and Fiom-Cgil. The commission, which began operating on 1 January 2007, will have to present proposals on the following issues before the end of the year: analysis of female employment within the company group in order to avoid discrimination, initiatives to promote equal opportunities, training initiatives for women’s professional development within the company, as well as positive actions such as experimenting with flexible working hours;

• working time – the agreement confirms the annualised working time scheme agreed on at plant level. The workers will have seven flexitime days at their disposal, each consisting of six hours actually worked, but which count for eight make-up hours each. Collective closures for particular holidays will be introduced on a trial basis through specific agreements between the company management groups and the RSUs at individual plant level.

The parties to the agreement have also agreed to look into the possible introduction of healthcare coverage such as a supplementary insurance fund.

Reaction of social partners

The trade unions expressed their satisfaction with the agreement, which they consider strengthens the system of industrial relations and makes it possible to develop decentralised bargaining at individual plant level.

According to Maurizio Landini, National Secretary of Fiom-Cgil in charge of the electrical appliance sector, the agreement proves that collective bargaining is an instrument which can work towards improving both the employees’ living conditions and the company’s competitiveness. Moreover, the agreement also testifies to the fact that if a company considers the work of its employees as a productive resource in which it is worthwhile to invest, it is possible to deal with the problem posed by the use of various forms of precarious work with a view to reducing them and to promoting steady employment and innovative solutions.

According to Luciano Falchi of Fim-Cisl, Indesit’s trade union liaison, the agreement, ‘achieved without even one hour of strike action, is characterised by its innovative content, especially in the informational and trade union relations system and in job market matters’. Mr Falchi points out that Indesit had developed the participatory model in recent years in Italy and had started to implement it. This had already generated satisfactory results and improved the employment system, in terms of both new recruitment and the updating of existing employment contracts.

Marta Santi, Cesos