Freeze on pay sees protests in Italy

Trade unionists from Italy’s largest trade union confederation CGIL have been protesting against government plans to freeze public sector pay for the next four years, until the end of 2013. However, their action has not been supported by the other major union confederations.

CGIL estimates that 100,000 trade unionists took to Rome’s streets on 12 June to protest against the pay freeze, announced in a budget statement on 25 May. Addressing the rally, general secretary Guglielmo Epifani, called for taxes on speculative financial transactions. He said: “We are willing to make sacrifices, but we do not want to make them alone.”

CGIL also organised a general strike, of four hours in the private sector and 24 hours in the public sector on 25 June.

The slogan for the demonstration on 12 June was “everyone is backing us”. However, this is not the case for the country’s other main union confederations.

For CISL, the second largest, the pay freeze is certainly “very serious”, but in a statement agreed by its executive committee it notes that “the budget has not gone on, as in other countries, to cut salaries currently being paid.”

Luigi Angeletti, general secretary of UIL, the smallest of the three, accepts that the budget cuts were necessary, although he opposes the pay freeze. However, he also opposes CGIL’s response, saying that the union’s role is not to organise protests, “but to organise pressure”.