Jobs Act faces ongoing opposition

Large parts of Italy ground to a halt last month as workers — 60% of the country’s workforce according to the unions — took strike action against the government’s new employment legislation, the Jobs Act.

While the legislation includes some elements welcomed by the unions, there are fears it will weaken employees’ rights at work.

The plan to remove the current obligation on larger employers to reinstate workers who have been unfairly dismissed is seen as particularly unwelcome.

The strike was initially called by the largest union confederation CGIL, and, in the weeks leading up to the action, it gained the support of the third-largest confederation UIL.

CISL, the second-largest confederation, did not support the strike. Its new general secretary, Annamaria Furlan, said there were “no valid grounds” for it as, overall, the legalisation was beneficial. CISL did, however, take part in strikes calling for an end to the pay freeze in the public sector, earlier in December.

The Jobs Act itself was finally approved by the Italian senate on 4 December. But it only provides a framework, with the detailed changes being introduced later.

The unions will continue to oppose these changes and, as Franco Martini, one of CGIL’s national secretaries has said, neither the strike nor the passing of the legislation is “the end of the story”.