A unified platform to revitalise industrial relations in Italia

For this reason, the CGIL, CISL and UIL have drawn up a joint platform to initiate discussions with

business organisations and draw up a new framework agreement on contractual arrangements, pay,

representation, training, health and safety, participation. Doing so means taking on a

responsibility towards workers, businesses and the country, in the belief that better industrial relations

modern technologies can become a driver of growth, productivity and social cohesion.

The challenges we face make a quality-based strategy increasingly necessary. It is a

common interest. Businesses that invest, innovate and compete on international markets have

there is much to be gained from a more mature system of industrial relations, based on collective bargaining

qualifications, participation, continuing professional development and health and safety at work. This is not a matter of

not additional burdens, but factors that boost productivity, competitiveness and added value.

At the top of the list of priorities is the wage dynamic. When wages lose purchasing power, there is no

They only weaken households: consumption is curbed, domestic demand slows down and

reduce the growth prospects of the entire economy. Linked to this issue is the challenge

contractual dumping. The proliferation of ‘yellow’ contracts fuels competition based on

cuts to wages and employment protections rather than focusing on quality. This is a distortion that penalises both workers and

ethical businesses – which make up the vast majority – by distorting the rules of the market.

Greater added value, economic growth and quality of work are objectives that go hand in hand

mutually. Increased productivity must also translate into higher wages and bonuses of

business and regional performance, through a positive cycle that simultaneously strengthens

competitiveness and social cohesion. We need an extraordinary investment in human capital. Italia

continues to have the widest gap in Europe in terms of adult participation in training between

less-skilled and more-skilled workers — around 10 per cent, 50 percentage points lower than in Europe

— and remains far from the European target of 60 per cent per year. That is why we propose to implement,

the right to education, which is universal and accessible to all.

At the heart of the agreement lies a clear conviction: pay is determined by

collective bargaining. Not just at national level, but also at a decentralised level, which needs to be expanded

in terms of both numbers and quality. The trade union is, and remains, the country’s wage-setting authority. In a system in which the

As almost all employees are covered by collective agreements, the answer is not to rely on

not the setting of wages, but strengthening the effectiveness of collective bargaining. From this approach

The proposals set out in the manifesto stem from this. With regard to a fair wage, the plan is to implement

contractual provisions of Article 36 on criteria of genuine representativeness, as set out in the Primo Decree

May, taking the parameters of the ‘Patto per la Fabbrica’ — Tem and Tec — as a reference from

to be applied across the various sectors.

With regard to representation, we propose a methodology based on membership figures and electoral data,

to be defined through sectoral agreements, confirming the role of the CNEL as the repository and

promotion of genuine collective agreements. It is also essential to recognise the value

the strategic role of participation in all forms governed by Act 76 of 2025 as the main lever

to manage transitions.

We are presenting this platform to business organisations as a solid basis for discussion,

convinced that the interests at stake can be reconciled and that there is now a real opportunity to

to forge a new partnership between labour and business in the country’s general interest.

General Secretary of the CISL