Amazon, Conad, Palenzona. What will happen in Confcommercio

I don't think Carlo Sangalli is interested in leaving something behind. Neither in Rome nor in Milan. There have been several candidates to succeed him and also of a good level. He has often created and motivated them himself, sometimes deluding them of being his potential successors but leaving however that, immediately afterwards, his closest collaborators take it upon themselves to find in them all possible defects "forcing" him to resist and move on.

So there is, to date, in my humble opinion, no credible and possible succession. The obvious criticisms of the elderly president and his tendency to see himself as eternal and irreplaceable are slipped like free words by those who know they control the majority vote package.

Therefore the “after Sangalli” is not in question for the simple fact that, at present, there can be no after. It is, as I have always written, the "end of mandate never" that has always guided him from the day of his election as president of the Milan Trade Union back in 1995.

I think Fabrizio Palenzona understood this very well. And in fact he preferred to take a step back because the coincidence between the continuity of Sangalli management and his men and the impossibility of opening up to any change is evident.

It did not break because Confcommercio, although immobile for some time now, remains a potentially very important place, an effective organizational machine in the territories, rich enough in the center unlike other confederations, equipped, unique in its kind, with a national confederal contract and therefore able to cover sectors and sectors starting from an interesting reference base in terms of application flexibility. And of trade union interlocutors who make concreteness and willingness to face problems a distinctive feature and with whom Confcommercio manages a rich bilateral system.

It is no coincidence that, after Amazon which has chosen Conftrasporto, Conad, the largest reality in the large-scale retail trade, has chosen Confcommercio. I certainly don't think either of them because of the presence of this confederal president. Both are realities that have a long gaze.

GDO, everyone knows, has never been well seen in Confcommercio. Supported, yes, desired for the economic resources it can bring to the confederal system, especially the local one. Loved and well-liked, however, no. The same communication of few words that Carlo Sangalli dedicated to announce Conad's entry into the system at the recent confederal council is a confirmation of this. More or less the time dedicated to announce the signing of the important trade union agreement with Amazon. An agreement that was even contested at Confcommercio because it was reached by Conftrasporto without the direct involvement of the Confederation.

In reality, if seen in perspective, they are choices that, on the contrary, could open up new scenarios. I would add that the Italian tertiary sector needs to get out of the narrow organizational perimeter that was built in the twentieth century while remaining anchored to an old culture that is now breathless.

The leading groups of the Confederation of Piazza Belli that have gradually followed one another have substantially calibrated themselves politically on the needs of small businesses and on the services dedicated to it. And, thanks to a national contract that is less onerous than others, flexible in its applicability similar to a minimum wage ante litteram, the entire service sector has been able to relate it, more or less consciously, to Confcommercio, bringing it significant economic resources. precisely from systems derived from bilateralism. And, starting from this reality, further interesting future developments could arise with the same trade union interlocutors. Suffice it to mention the case of the innovative national contract for executives in the tertiary sector applied to about 25,000 executives, almost all registered with Manageritalia and employed in over eight thousand companies, of which less than a third is recognized in Confcommercio. Hence, I believe, the reluctance to accept a verification of real representativeness.

On the contrary, Conad's entry opens up new scenarios. First of all, it balances the weight with Federdistribuzione without creating unnecessary conflicts. The fact that the first two national realities (Conad and Coop) are outside the Federation that represents the sector is a politically relevant fact. The pandemic has made everyone understand that team play is decisive.

Federdistribuzione, outside the large representative organizations, does not affect and does not protect as the member companies would like. Especially with the arrival on the scene of new global competitors. Trade old and new needs unity, political weight and resources to innovate.

Conad, with its over 70,000 collaborators, represents a hinge between different worlds. Between large and small national companies with a strong presence throughout the territory, with the same cooperation, with the related industries and those who are positioned upstream and downstream of the supply chain. Federdistribuzione itself could deal with an interlocutor of a very different authority and culture capable of synthesizing in the general interest.

Then guiding the next renewal of Confcommercio's national collective bargaining agreement by connecting with those representing other contracts could open new perspectives by overcoming jealousies and competitions that have led to nothing. And, above all, to open a new season of confrontation and innovation on contents with the confederal trade union.

On the internal confederal front, beyond the words of the circumstance, Conad will not find the road smoothed. Organizational dynamics and old rusts represent real mines scattered along the way that must be defused. As well as the "promises" of the President will have to follow the facts. The lack of facts is precisely one of the reasons that keep some of the most important federations away from the highest body.

It is loyalty to the leader who, in these long years, has rewarded loyalty and equal dignity. It is certainly no coincidence that some significant territorial realities are excluded from the government of the confederation to the advantage of others of low political and numerical consistency but faithful to the leader and his men.

Francesco Pugliese, however, comes from an excellent school. And just as Fabrizio Palenzona in the end had to deal with a rubber wall, the same fate will befall him.

Personally, I am convinced that the goal of Conad's CEO, who at least for the next 2/3 years, will have to dedicate himself to completing the integration process of Auchan and consolidating the leadership achieved with the Consortium, is to create the conditions for the entire national trade speak with one voice. Conad's choice to join Confcommercio, if it has this purpose and not others, must be absolutely shared.

As for me, I hope that this important entry pushes in two fundamental directions. First of all, to put all the most important protagonists of the future of the Confederation around a table. The President, while cultivating wishes for an "end of term never" expires in 2025. And these are the years in which the future of the country is being built.

Unfortunately, a President of a confederation now out of the important games, relegated to the sidelines between soporific interviews and data passed on to him by the activism of the research office, is of little use. We need a great deal of repositioning and relaunching that will allow the service sector to play the role that belongs to it and which has now disappeared thanks also to the leadership of Confindustria.

Tourism, Transportation, Horeca, Large Distribution, Fashion together with all the other federations and the most important territorial associations of the sector can relaunch the role of a large association of the Italian tertiary sector.

Secondly, it is essential to resume and put on the agenda a new balance of the national supply chain that involves the entire national agri-food sector upstream and downstream. The risks of an inflationary recovery and increases in raw materials must produce a unitary vision that summarizes the various interests at stake from agriculture, production, logistics and up to final consumption.

Only in this way can the authoritativeness that derive from it be spent in search of new but correct equilibriums in a market where opportunities and rules must be shared. It is valid between industry and distribution but it must also apply between the different forms of online and offline distribution. Old or new they are. The future of Confcommercio is also at stake on this, which is something other than the ambitions and desires of individual managers or presidents.