CONFINDUSTRIA: THE CONFERENCES IN VICENZA, TREVISO AND PADUA.<\/p>\n
Tomorrow sees the major rally on the eve of the new national negotiations for Federmeccanica: this is the decisive round of talks \u2013 \u2018Collective bargaining: it\u2019s time to change the rules\u2019 Vescovi, Piovesana and Finco are calling the 6,000 members to Marghera to urge industry leaders and trade unions to take the plunge: flexible agreements to restore competitiveness to businesses and secure pay rises for workers<\/p>\n
Changing relations between employers and workers in businesses across the North-East: \u2018We need to reduce the economic scope of the national collective agreement, which effectively dictates 95 per cent of the pay that goes into employees\u2019 pay packets.\u2019 This is the watchword of the General Assembly to be held tomorrow in Marghera, which will bring together all members of the Vicenza, Treviso and Padua branches of Confindustria \u2013 organisations that, two years ago, created the \u2018Open System\u2019 to facilitate the free movement of the 6,000 member companies between the various offices and services on offer. And although the tone and vehemence of the speeches vary according to the different personalities, the aim of changing the Italian collective bargaining system is what strongly unites the three presidents: Luciano Vescovi (Vicenza), Maria Cristina Piovesana (Treviso) and Massimo Finco (Padua) \u2013 who joined via video link from Hanover yesterday \u2013 in launching tomorrow\u2019s event at the Pala ExpoVenice, \u201cwhere I hope to see,\u201d Finco emphasises, \u201cat least 2,000 of our members. \u2018Because only in this way can we make ourselves heard by our counterparts.\u2019 Why does the structure of contracts in Italy need to change? Vescovi explains it with figures: \u2018Unit labour costs in Italy have risen by 34.7 per cent since 2000, whilst in France they have fallen by 2.3 per cent, in Germany by 0.2 per cent and in the UK by 5.4 per cent. Over the last three years, the industrial sector here has generally granted pay rises of 6 per cent, calculated on the basis of projected inflation, despite the reality of deflation. These are figures, not words.<\/p>\n