Italy: social partners sign historical agreement on union representativeness and the scope of company agreements

“This agreement puts an end to a long season of separation between us” declared Emma Marcegaglia, leader of Confindustria, when presenting the unitary interconfederal agreement signed after six hours bargaining (“the shortest round ever” she said) last night (June 28th) with the general secretaries of the CGIL, Cisl and Uil, Susanna Camusso, Raffaele Bonnani and Luigi Angeletti.  She nonetheless added that this agreement didn’t “replace that of 2009” because it affects other themes, notably representativeness and the universal validity of company agreements.  Aside from this agreement, the three confederations renewed the 2008 protocol on the procedures for presenting claim platforms and for the approval of agreements (see our dispatch No.  080377) which states, among other things, that at sectoral level the federations will have to define special rules for the procedures for renewing agreements “in order to involve all workers” both for the development of platforms and for the approval of the agreements.