Contracts, Confindustria implodes. Letter from all food companies to unions: “Let’s try”

ROME – The letter arrived last night. “The need has arisen to find the necessary balance that protects workers and companies (…) we ask for a meeting in the hope of finalizing a negotiation agreement in the interests of workers and companies.” There are seven business associations in the food sector that write to the unions to reconnect the thread of discussion and reach an agreement for the renewal of the contract. But above all, the Confindustria implosion is in black and white.

President Carlo Bonomi has so far shown his strength by asking the associated companies not to give in to the demands of workers for wage increases and precisely in the food sector the hard line (and now its failure) has offered the plastic representation of the tensions internal companies on the industrial front: at the end of July three associations autonomously signed the renewal of the contract with Fai-Cisl, Flai-Cgil and Uila-Uil (including Unionfood that represents all the giants of the sector, from Barilla to Ferrero , to multinationals like Unilever); the presidency of Confindustria intervened with a straight leg calling for order and asking the rest of the associations not to recognize the national value of the new contract; an internal tug-of-war was carried out with the confederation of viale dell’Astronomia and with individual companies (more than 80) that continued to sign independent renewals with the unions; A few days ago Federalimentare (historical pivot of the sector with the power to negotiate for all) threw in the towel and it was an official “breaking the lines” who gave rise to yesterday’s letter.

At this point, all the associations in the sector separated from the Bonomi line: a forceful slap to the new president of Confindustria (he has been in office since May and immediately tried to change the pace of the confederation, tightening relations with the government and the unions) that could also have repercussions in other sectors that are fighting for the renewal of contracts (10 million workers waiting only in the private sector), the metallurgist especially that in recent days saw the interruption of negotiations between Fim, Fiom and Uilm and Federmeccanica.

Contratti, the food giants against the Bonomi line

Marco Patucchi

25 August 2020

Bonomi, who accuses the unions of having betrayed the Factory Pact signed by the social partners in 2018, considers wage increases impractical, shifting the margins of possible economic improvements for workers outside the scope of collective bargaining (focusing for example in well-being).

Stirpe: “Unions do not respect the agreements on contract renewals”

by MARCO PATUCCHI

24 August 2020

But there is great intolerance among the companies themselves, because in a very delicate phase of economic recovery and with the new threatening shadow of the pandemic, they would prefer to avoid social tensions that, in fact, would jeopardize the relaunch effort after the first Covid hit . Not surprisingly, the letter from the seven food associations highlights that the requested meeting “involves the immediate suspension of the riots.” And beyond the signal for the entire Confindustria front, the breakdown of the associations in this sector is of importance in itself, given that the sector represents, with its approximately 7 thousand companies and 385 thousand employees, 8% of the GDP. national.