Minimum wage: support for bargaining or expropriation of industrial relations?
A minimum wage should also be established as a guarantee instrument where there is no contract or where a "convenient" contract has actually been created. But using the minimum wage for improper ends may satisfy political and electoral interests but it does no service to the union or the country. The analysis of Walter Galbusera, former union leader in the Uil and now president of the Anna Kuliscioff Foundation
The Italian political world often transforms simple issues into inextricable tangles from which it is difficult to get out. This could happen in the case of the minimum wage, which seems to have become something of a philosopher's stone.
The European Union, in order to protect the weakest workers, has asked the States in which the contractual coverage is low to adopt a minimum wage. Strictly speaking, this is not the case in Italy where collective bargaining guarantees 92% of workers. But neither would it be forbidden to adopt it in our country if it is true that there is also in Germany an economic colossus with very strong unions and respectable salaries.
The problem arises because in reality there is a misunderstanding as to what is the real function of a minimum wage which should rationally constitute the guarantee that the professionally weaker groups of workers, particularly in marginal sectors, are paid with an hourly wage which, at least by convention, it considers itself fair. But who decides that?
In countries where the union is strong and sufficiently representative, as in our country, it is up to the negotiation to fix the contractual minimums. But it is also true that a part, albeit marginal, escapes any negotiation or, in some cases, the collective agreements stipulated by the parties provide for very low wage values. In such circumstances, even the judiciary can somehow intervene. In a recent ruling by the Court of Appeal of Milan, a collective contract for surveillance was "disapplied" because it provided for a salary "considered below the poverty line" by replacing it with a contract for a sector considered similar, such as that of the janitor.
The function of the minimum wage is therefore to prevent the hourly wage from falling below a certain level.
The misunderstanding in our country arises from the fact that behind the idea of establishing a minimum wage, the goal is actually pursued to increase at least a significant part of wages. The aim is certainly noble and, incidentally, it can be used in any electoral campaign. Of course, there will be tough competition between the various parties that will take little account of the averages and even less of the differences between the purchasing power of the different areas of the country, aiming to raise the value of the "minimum" to appear closer to workers/voters.
But this, in addition to increasing undeclared work, particularly in the South, would favor a sort of de-responsibility of the union, very harmful for a collective subject that makes bargaining its main raison d'etre. Even more so if accompanied by the temptation to accelerate a process of gradual nationalization of wages pursued by the growing requests for non-selective taxation of social security contributions. Not to mention that an excessive transfer of Parliament's intervention on contractual matters would expose the country to the risk of expropriation of the role of all the social partners. On the other hand, if Parliament, for whatever reason, deems it necessary to increase wages, it can act by reducing the tax burden.
It is possible to set a minimum wage but through logical and respectful steps of a system, such as that of collective, national and company bargaining, which is a backbone of social relations and of the economic system. The minimum wages should be those envisaged by all contracts, national, territorial and company to which the combined provision of article 36 of the Constitution seems to refer ( The worker has the right to a remuneration proportionate to the quantity and quality of his work and in any sufficient case to ensure a free and dignified existence for himself and his family. The maximum duration of the working day is established by law ) and the subsequent article 39 ( Registered trade unions have legal personality. They may, represented jointly in proportion to their members, enter into collective labor agreements with mandatory effect for all those belonging to the categories to which the agreement refers ) which establishes the rules for giving general effect to the agreements ( erga omnes ) in relation to the interested parties.
It is so difficult to find a solution, perhaps within the CNEL, starting from the real representativeness of the signatories (regularly registered members, certified number of delegates elected in the basic structures in the workplace, number of members of business associations) and perhaps by any necessary update to the same article 39?
If the issue seems complicated today for the national contract, it is very simple for defined company contracts, such as that of Stellantis (formerly Fiat), special collective labor contracts which are often approved or rejected through a referendum in the factories and offices .
Of course, someone could invoke the unitary union of all workers, but unfortunately it is not realistic and not only due to the dutiful respect for trade union freedom and pluralism. On the other hand, it is possible and necessary to agree on the unity of shared rules to ascertain the degree of representation of the individual signatory organizations, without forgetting one of the now established practices, also thanks to Italian trade unionism, of having all interested workers, registered and non-registered, vote .
It would not hurt then to take into consideration the overall rules governing industrial relations in other European countries, starting with Germany which can not only be feared as an economic giant.
A minimum wage should also be established as a guarantee instrument where there is no contract or where a "convenient" contract has actually been created. But using the minimum wage for improper ends may satisfy political and electoral interests but it does no service to the union or the country.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/salario-minimo-sostegno-alla-contrattazione-o-esproprio-delle-relazioni-industriali/ on Thu, 16 Mar 2023 08:17:50 +0000.