PD divided over change to regulation on unjust dismissals
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(ANSA)
- Rome, September 24 - A post on the blog of Beppe Grillo, the leader
of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), on Wednesday called
for rebels within Premier Matteo Renzi's centre-left Democratic Party
(PD) who are opposed to the government's labour reform to stage a
mutiny and help bring down the executive. The PD is split over the
government's so-called Jobs Act, which includes changes to Article 18
of the 1970 Workers Statutes guaranteeing people unjustly sacked the
right to their job back. The Jobs Act would change this for newly
hired workers so that if a court finds they were unjustly sacked,
they would get compensation, rather than being rehired. Italy's
biggest and most leftwing union, CGIL, is outraged by an attack on
what it considers a fundamental right.
Furthermore,
a minority within the PD, led by Renzi's predecessor as party leader
Pier Luigi Bersani, are planning to file seven amendments to the Jobs
Act to stop Article 18 effectively being scrapped for new hires.
"Renzi is managing to do what (ex-premiers Mario) Monti and
(Silvio) Berlusconi failed to do," read the post on the popular
blog, which gave life to the Internet-based M5S in 2009. "He is
treating (the country's biggest trade union) CGIL like a doormat: PD
comrades, why are you waiting to occupy the (party) offices and make
your voices heard," continued the piece, signed by M5S theorist
Aldo Giannulli. It added that the battle over Article 18 was an
"opportunity to send Renzi packing".
Article
18 is seen by many as discouraging firms from offering workers
regular, steady contracts as it makes it very hard from them to get
ride rid of a staff member once on the books. This has been blamed
for high unemployment levels, especially among young people, and the
fact that most new entrants to the job market are hired on freelance
or temporary contracts that give few rights and low job security. The
Jobs Act, which has been approved at the committee stage, raises
safeguards for new hires, slashes temporary contracts, and
establishes a minimum wage and universal unemployment benefit.