Global, Italy

On 13 March, the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) governing body endorsed an agreement on living wages. This acknowledges that decent wages are central to economic and social development and to advance social justice. The document also says that living wages play an essential role in reducing poverty and inequality and ensuring a decent and dignified life. For the ILO, a living wage is the wage level necessary to afford a decent standard of living for workers and their families, taking into account the country circumstances and calculated for the work performed during the normal hours

The FP-CGIL public service federation reports that the latest official data show that there were 16000 incidents of aggression against health and social care personnel in 2023, affecting 18000 workers. The statistics were published in the 2023 report from the National Observatory on the Safety of Health and Social Care Professionals which was established in January 2022 and is made up of the Ministries of Health, Interior, Economy and Finance and Labour, other government agencies, trade unions and regional professional associations. Nurses were the most affected by incidents of aggression

The three public service federations – FP-CGIL, CISL-FP, and UIL-FPL – report a successful national strike of workers employed by the Federcasa social housing organisation. The unions have been negotiating on the 2022-2024 collective agreement since last autumn and resorted to strike action to put pressure on the employers to improve their pay offer and ensure that there is an additional payment to cover the delay in negotiating the agreement. The action on 20 February included a sit-in in Rome and many regional demonstrations across the country, including in Trentino, Liguria, Lombardy

EPSU and PSI have sent solidarity greetings to the three union federations – Filctem-Cgil, Flaei- Cisl and Uiltec – in their dispute with the ENEL energy company. The three unions are planning national strike action on 8 March and began a month-long period of industrial action affecting overtime, travel and changes to working hours on 24 February. The unions are angry about the company’s unilateral plans to change working hours arrangements, to outsource operations on the electricity grid, and its refusal to renew the remote work agreement. The three federations argue that the measures will

The Fp Cgil, Cisl Fp and Uil Fpl public service federations have brought two collective agreements in private social care together and are working on consolidation with a third. The unions have signed the agreement for the period 2020-22 covering the National Association for Public Assistance (ANPAS) and the National Confederation of the Misericordie d'Italia, secular and religious providers of health, social care and other services. The aim is to create a single sector agreement covering providers of social and health assistance, medical transport and emergency out-of-hospital care. The next

The FP-CGIL, CISL-FP and UIL-FPL public service federations called off strike action planned for 31 January after the ARIS private sector health employers’ organisation agreed to sign a bridging agreement as called for by the unions. This means that there is now a temporary agreement with both the ARIS and AIOP employer organisations that allows for negotiations to begin to create a single, sector agreement covering all employees of both organisations. The bridging agreement provides for additional remuneration for different categories of workers ranging from €40 to €318.50 for a 13-month

The FP-Cgil, Cisl-FP and Uil-Fpl public service federations have proclaimed a national strike for 20 February for the staff of public and social housing companies covered by the Federcasa collective agreement. The unions say that, in the current negotiations for a new agreement for 2022-2024, the employers have proved unwilling to recognize the need to ensure the full professional development of staff and to offer adequate increases to protect wages. The planned strike will be the latest stage in lengthy mobilisations and campaigning since autumn 2023 which have focused on the crucial service

The Fp Cgil, Cisl Fp and Uil Fpl public service federations have declared a day of strike action and protests on 31 January in their continuing campaign to secure a bridging agreement with the ARIS non-profit health employers’ association. ARIS has rejected the proposal that aims to provide a basis for negotiations to start that would lead to a collective agreement that covers both the ARIS and AIOP private health employer organisations. The unions are determined to secure improvements to pay and conditions for workers who haven’t had an update to the collective agreement for 11 years. The aim

The three public service federations – FP-CGIL, CISL-FP and UIL-FPL – have signed a draft agreement with the ARAN agency for public sector employers that covers over 13,000 managers and senior staff in local and health authorities. The agreement is the last in the public sector covering the 2019-2021 period and means the unions can now focus on the next round of bargaining. There are three main pay grades covered by the agreement and along with a basic increase of €135 a month there will be additional increases related to each occupational group ranging from €104 to €174. The unions are

Following the strike action on 17 November, the Fp-Cgil, Uil-Pa and Uil-Fpl trade union federations were set to organise a national protest outside the Ministry of Economy and Finance on 7 December. The unions are calling on the government to change the budget law for 2024 to ensure funding for renewing collective agreements and providing protection for workers’ purchasing power. They also highlight the failure of the government to tackle staff shortages or make any preparation for the fact that around 700,000 workers are due to retire by the year 2030. Meanwhile, both Fp-Cgil and Uil-Fpl

Alongside action by the CGIL and UIL confederations, the CISL trade union confederation is planning a national protest in Rome on 25 November over the government’s budget for 2024 and its refusal to engage with the trade unions. Together with demands for increased funding for public services, CISL wants to see action on staffing and measures to reduce precarious work. It also wants the government to commit to negotiating new collective agreements in the public sector. The mobilisations by UIL and CGIL continue with regional stoppages planned for 24 and 27 November and 1 December.

The International Trade Union Confederation has welcomed the decision of the governing body of the International Labour Organisation to refer the question of the right to strike to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). There has been a a long-standing dispute between workers’ and employers’ representatives related to the right to strike and the extent to which it derives from the ILO conventions on the freedom of association (87) and the rights to organise and collective bargaining (98). The issue will now be addressed by the ICJ and the ITUC hopes this will unblock the impasse that has

The FP-CGIL, UIL-FPL and UIL-PA public service federations are coordinating strike action on 17 November as part of a series of strikes and protests organised by the CGIL and UIL confederations. The unions are angry about government economic and social policy, the proposed state budget for 2024 and the refusal of the government to consult with unions. The public service strike will be followed by action in other sectors on 20, 24 and 27 November and 1 December. There was also a one-day strike by FP-CGIL and UIL-PA members at the INL National Labour Inspectorate on 30 October. This was part of

The Fp-Cgil, Cisl-Fp and Uil-Fpl public service federations have signed a short-term agreement with the AIOP private sector employers in social care which runs from 1 October 2023 to 30 June 2024. The aim is to provide improvements to the pay and conditions of around 30000 workers who have been waiting 11 years for a new agreement. The intention is that the agreement will bridge the gap until a new sector-wide agreement is negotiated with bargaining on this set to begin in January 2024. In the meantime, workers will get increases of between €118 and €301 along with improvements to night shift