Privatisation, Central government, Italy

(August 2016) The government has ignored trade union opposition and approved a decree to make the forestry service an arm of the Carabinieri, the military police force. The unions are extremely concerned about the loss of civil and trade union rights for the workers transferred and have challenged claims that the move will improve the efficiency of the service. The CGIL confederation and FP-CGIL public services federation are committed to fighting the transfer and have made clear they will use all legal avenues including potential industrial action by the workers affected. Read more at FP-CGIL

(August 2016) The public service federations - Fp Cgil, Cisl Fp and Uil Fpl - have sent a letter to the ministers of public administration and economic development protesting at the planned restructuring of the system of chambers of commerce. The unions argue that the plans to reorganise are going ahead without any guarantees for the employees and with the government refusing even to discuss the restructuring with the trade unions. The chambers employ around 7000 workers directly with 3000 in related bodies. The unions plan to organise a national demonstration in September. Read more at Fp

The four main public service unions - FP-CGIL, CISL-FP, UIL-PA and UIL-FPL - have together launched a major campaign and petition calling for action to improve public services and deliver better employment conditions. The four unions have drawn up a document with 11 key proposals that cover calls for increased public investment; substantial recruitment of new workers and improved training provision; better union representation; finalising outstanding collective agreements for the 2016-2018 period and ensuring resources for the next round of agreements for 2019-21; bringing back privatised

The FP-CGIL trade union federation has met with public administration minister Giulia Bongiorno to set out four urgent priorities for action. These involve tackling precarious employment, increasing employment, negotiating the next collective agreement that will cover the years 2019-2021 and ensuring increased investment in staff training. The union argues that it is not enough to simply end the freeze on recruitment as more needs to be done to boost employment or run the risk of a further decline in the quality of services. FP-CGIL also wants a limit on health spending lifted to allow for

The three main trade union confederations - CGIL, CSIL and UIL - are united in rejecting the government budget which they regard as wrong and short-sighted, failing to provide resources for growth, development and investment. The confederations are committed to mobilise against the plans with a national demonstration planned for later this month. They point out that the budget fails to provide the necessary investment in social infrastructure, particularly in health and education, and with inadequate provisions to cover the renewal of collective agreements for public sector workers and a

The FP CGIL public services federation is calling for urgent action to tackle increasing violence against staff as well as staff suicides in the prison service. Thirty-five staff have committed suicide over the last five years with 2250 violent incidents recorded over the same period. The increase in violence is reflected in the number of incidents rising from 344 in 2013 to 590 in 2017. The union has criticised the prison service management for failing to engage to tackle the issue with its sole main response being to establish a helpline for staff. The union wants to see a range of measures

(July 2017) The three public service federations - FP CGIL, CISL FP and UIL FPL - organised a joint mobilisation on 3rd July outside the offices of the Ministry of Labour to call for action over the future of employment centres across the country. The unions are calling for guarantees for the workers in these centres in terms of jobs and wages as well as proper investment in the provision of employment services to citizens. Around 8000 permanent staff and 2000 temporary workers are affected by the uncertainty facing the centres.

The three main trade unions representing workers in ministries and agencies - FP-CGIL, CISL-FP and UIL-PA - have welcomed the new agreement signed on 23 December that marks the end of almost nine years of a freeze on collective bargaining. Covering around 250000 employees, the agreement re-establishes the importance of the role of the trade unions and collective bargaining and implements the basic pay provisions set out in the public sector framework deal agreed at the end of 2016. The central government agreement has a wide range of provisions on leave, including extra leave for women who are

The unions representing workers at the Revenue Agency, including Fp Cgil, Cisl Fp and Uilpa, are planning a national strike on 2 April in protest at the failure to pay additional payments to 30000 employees. The additional payments date back to 2016 and 2017 and the Agency has repeatedly failed to justify the reasons for the delay in payment. Even during recent compulsory arbitration the Agency couldn't explain the delay or commit to a payment date and so the unions agreed that they had to resort to strike action.

The federations representing workers in public administration - Fp Cgil, Cisl Fp, UilPa and Uil Fpl - have expressed concern that the new government is behaving the same way as the previous government and not undertaking a proper process of negotiating a new collective agreement for the sector. The government has indicated it would agree to a pay rise of 1.95% in 2020 but the unions have rejected this as inadequate and underlined the importance of negotiations on a broad range of important issues including administrative reform, careers and measures to reduce precarious employment.

The leadership of the Fp Cgil, Cisl Fp, Uil Fpl and Uil Pa public service federations held a joint meeting on 30 October to discuss their main proposals for renewal of public administration. They welcomed the willingness of the new government to engage in dialogue but underlined the need to invest the necessary resources. The key demands focus on the renewal of collective agreements, an urgent plan to recruit new workers, measures to reduce precarious employment and the implementation of a new job classification system. The unions stressed that the government needed to adjust the budget to

The three main firefighter unions - FP CGIL VVF, FNS CISL and UIL PA VVF - organised a day of protests and strike action on 15 November with a range of demands. They want to see the work of firefighters properly recognised in terms of both pay and social protection. They also want action on health and safety, particularly in relation to the occupational risks and diseases they face. The unions want the government to ensure adequate funding not just for the renewal of the collective agreement but also to boost recruitment. Further action was planned for 21 November.

The three main confederations - CGIL, CISL and UIL - organised a joint demonstration on 9 February to protest over government policies. They set out a broad range of demands including the creation of quality jobs, increased public and private investment, fair and equitable tax policies, a revaluation of pensions, measures to improve the provision of welfare, health, education and other public services and renewal of collective agreements in the public sector. EPSU sent a message of support.

The Fp Cgil, Cisl Fp and Uil Pa public service trade unions are organising strike action in the Ministry of Justice on 28 June. The unions say that the action is necessary to force the government to act to address massive staff shortages. By 2021 the Ministry will face a 50% staff shortfall, compounded by an ageing workforce. The unions also say that the situation is not helped by the fact that justice workers are among the worst paid in the public sector.