On Friday 11 August, the executive and all opposition forces will meet to discuss the issue. The prime minister does not change her mind and highlights how “setting a minimum hourly wage for everyone could be lower than the contractual minimum envisaged. A counterproductive result”. The reactions of the parties were harsh: “I wonder what sense the meeting has. If there should only be a confrontation, it would be better to meet again in Parliament”, highlights Magi of +Europe
Although the next Council of Ministers has already been announced, scheduled for August 28 at 5 pm, and it is known that the immigration provision and further regulations on banks and extra profits will most likely be on the table (a dossier on which Forza Italia), the issue of the minimum wage is still taking center stage. On Friday 11 August, the leaders of the opposition will meet Prime Minister Meloni. On the table in Palazzo Chigi there will be documents and ideas but not a packaged plan, given that the majority and the government are still working on a legislative proposal, in collaboration with the Cisl.
The intentions of the premier and the executive
The House voted by majority for the request for suspension but the intention, as reported by some sources, is to insert the proposal as a related to the bill approved by the executive, together with the decree, on May 1st and which will arrive to the resumption of parliamentary work in Montecitorio. The recipe remains that of extending and strengthening collective bargaining, but the dialogue between the government and the opposition is starting uphill. “We will try to understand if there is the margin to present together a serious proposal against low wages”, Meloni said during his format on social media “Notes of Giorgia”. Even if he opens up to dialogue, Meloni does not change his mind: “If established by law a minimum hourly wage for everyone, then the minimum wage could risk being lower than the contractual minimum provided for. The paradox is that it would risk becoming a substitute parameter and not an additional one, worsening wages much more than those who improves. The title is captivating but the result risks being counterproductive”, highlighted the premier. For this reason “it will be necessary to provide wage parameters for those sectors and those workers who are not covered and guaranteed by collective bargaining. We hope that a shared answer can be reached. Wages fell by an average of 1.4%. In the same years those of the French grew on average by 4.3% and those of the Germans by as much as 6.75%. I am glad that those who were unable to reverse this trend when they were in government are finally realizing it”. The government’s intention is to continue along the path of collective bargaining, as remarked by Calderone herself, for whom “intense action is needed to extend bargaining to sectors not yet covered” and by Tajani, for whom the idea of a “collective bargaining which guarantees workers is better than a wage fixed by law”. However, Meloni highlighted that Friday’s confrontation could turn into an opportunity to understand if “there is the margin of presenting a serious proposal together with the oppositions against low wages – a true Italian problem – and that wage parameters can be provided for workers not covered by collective bargaining”.
The reactions
There were various political reactions to the premier’s words: the leader of Action, Calenda, 48 hours after the meeting relaunched the invitation to keep the tone low, but the other parties did not do the same. “The government does not seem to want to budge from its prejudices and only spreads fake news. It will mean that I will try to explain how things are with graphs”, said the president M5s Conte. “Giorgia Meloni’s statements show that she has not read our proposal”, argued Scotto, group leader in the Labor commission of the Democratic Party. Magi of +Europe is decidedly clearer: “I wonder what sense Friday’s meeting has. If there were to be only a confrontation, it would be better to meet again in Parliament and see who wants the minimum wage and who doesn’t”. Senator Raffaella Paita confirmed that Italia Viva will not be present, given that “laws must be made in Parliament”. Bonelli and Fratoianni of Avs are also clear: “If the purpose of the convocation is only to organize a presentation of the government in difficulty on this issue, let us know. Because nobody wants to waste time. And Parliament is the seat in to discuss and decide”. “The increase in low wages is a goal of the center-right: there is no room for ideological banners”, warned the president of deputies of Fdi, Foti.
Source-tg24.sky.it