Italian domestics do deal

Italian unions have reached agreement on the pay and conditions of domestic workers. The three-year agreement, which took two years to negotiate, provides for a €19 a month increase as well as an annual adjustment in rates to ensure that pay keeps up with at least 80% of the rise in prices. There is also increased notice period for working mothers. The unions have welcomed the agreement, which covers some two million employees. Domestic work, the unions argue, is “hidden but becoming ever more important at a time when public welfare is being progressively reduced.”

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