Numbers and reality belie Landini’s theories on work
All the latest bogus theories of Maurizio Landini, CGIL secretary. Giuliano Cazzola's analysis
After the demonstrations in Bologna and Milan, the month of mobilization of the CGIL, CISL and UIL in support of their unitary platform ends today in Naples. En passant, the confederations had one more topic to discuss and criticize in the rallies: that labor decree that the government approved on May 1st, snatching, with a quick hand, the attention of public opinion from the usual celebratory rites.
As happened in previous demonstrations and as we hear and read in the almost daily declarations of trade union leaders, especially CGIL and UIL, the government's action does not "listen" to work and whoever represents it. “On the other hand – stated Landini during the hearing in the Senate – the logic of fixed-term work is pursued, of compliance with the requests for flexibility of companies, rather than thinking of operating a squeeze on the most precarious forms, such as on-call work or the occasional self-employment or reduce extra-curricular internships to exclusively formative experiences, limited in the possibility of use, contrasting abuses".
These words certainly give rise to a very negative judgment – well beyond the single norms – of the current government's labor policy. But we see that the austerity of Palazzo Madama has led to a staid restraint in the leader of the CGIL, usually much more trenchant in representing what he believes to be reality. In one of his recent performances, Landini went so far as to rewrite article 1 of the Constitution: Italy had become a republic founded on the exploitation of labour. Let alone, then, what he will say in the capital of southern Italy in perpetual suffering! One might ask oneself whether it is worth having public institutions whose tasks include monitoring the economy and employment/unemployment, when important people with great responsibilities like Maurizio Landini and many others nestled in parties and in the media take a good look from consulting reports, tables, focus because it is much more gratifying to present themselves as enlightened bearers of justice or their singers.
In recent days a brilliant television presenter who, over many years has been able to publicize some of the biggest hoaxes of the century (at least in the part so far) such as the telenovela of the so-called exodus, has thrown herself into the fray in support of the antics of the university tent cities, inviting even the heroic defenders of the new rights to build barricades, to mitigate the high rents which, perhaps, oblige "off-site" students to carry out some work, allowing themselves to be exploited in advance.
It makes no sense for the Ministry of Labour, the Bank of Italy and ANPAL to issue a report on the labor market for March and April of the current year, highlighting that the demand for labor in the non-agricultural private sector has continued to increase at a sustained pace: over 100,000 jobs were created in the two months, net of terminations (Table 1), a value similar to that of the first two months and higher than both the average trends of 2022 and those of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The demand for work, as in the previous two months, was driven by services and above all by tourism, where just under 40,000 jobs were created, corresponding to about a third of the total. In industry in the strict sense and in construction, employment continued to grow at rates in line with those of the previous two months. The recovery of the more energy-intensive manufacturing sectors continued, benefiting from the drop in energy prices. But there are some interesting data also regarding the quality of employment relationships.
In March and April, the majority of jobs created, around 70%, were permanent. Consistent with the marked expansion in employment, the gradual reduction in the rate of lay-offs, which began in mid-2022, continued; resignations, mainly due to transitions from one job to another, remain at higher levels than in the period before the health crisis. In the last two months, however, the use of fixed-term contracts has increased, the balance of which has more than doubled compared to the previous two months (about 35,000 positions from 15,000). <Alas! Here is where the devil has got his tail on us> Landini would say at this point. But there is an explanation to want to look for it. The strong growth of the tourism sector, in which short-term employment relationships are more widespread, has influenced this recovery – the report claims – but also the greater propensity of companies to activate new fixed-term positions, after many of those existing had been transformed into permanent in 2022.
Since the limitations foreseen for the pandemic have been lifted, the Italian company has restarted, denying the positive growth forecasts. Along the way, the collapse of the economy was expected, first as a result of high energy prices, then of inflation and the increase in the discount rate in an anti-inflationary key. For heaven's sake: no triumphalism; indeed many concerns, also for the government's hesitation on the PNRR.
But if Maurizio Landini doesn't trust the official reports, at least document himself with the data published by the CGIL. At the beginning of May, the Di Vittorio Foundation announced the state of contractual coverage of dependent work in Italy. There are 16.6 million public and private workers (agricultural and domestic workers excluded) overall protected by national collective labor agreements; and another 251,000 are public workers under public law directly covered by law. Of this audience, 97% of private employees and 99.3% of public employees, respectively, are covered by contracts signed by CGIL, CISL and UIL.
Another significant figure emerges from the interesting research work: from 2012 to 2021 the number of signed contracts increased by 80%. Of the 992 existing contracts filed with Cnel (662, 62.7%, have already expired and 370, 37.3%, are in force), 246, 24.8%, were signed by CGIL, CISL, UIL; 746, 75.2%, were signed only by other union organizations. Therefore, despite the coverage of the National Collective Labor Agreements regards almost all employees, only a quarter is subscribed by the three Confederations. And so the FDV has also reduced the number of pirate contracts alone, which are many, but which concern a limited number of workers. This does not mean that the problem does not exist, but it is certainly not the most serious issue in the field of industrial and labor relations. In conclusion, in the face of this contractual hedging framework, shouldn't the trade unions value the function they perform, rather than tell themselves about a reality that does not exist? Then agree: you can always do better and more.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/i-numeri-e-la-realta-smentiscono-le-teorie-di-landini-sul-lavoro/ on Sat, 20 May 2023 07:42:44 +0000.