Confindustria-unions: dialogue on safety at work, tariffs and industrial policy

Health and safety, the impact of tariffs, industrial policy, energy, contracts and representation: the dialogue between Confindustria and the trade unions is continuing on a wide-ranging basis. Following the meeting on 26 June, yesterday Confindustria and the three confederations, CGIL, CISL and UIL, met again in the Confindustria headquarters in Via Veneto in Rome to discuss what concerns the country's growth, together with the issues more closely linked to the action of the social partners.

Other appointments have already been set for September, on the 17th and 30th (no united meetings between Confindustria and the three confederations had been held since 2020), a clear sign of the desire to identify proposals together and tackle the most urgent issues. "It is a continuation of the previous meeting, dialogue for us is fundamental at a time like this, especially in light of what has happened on tariffs," commented Confindustria president Emanuele Orsini at the end of the more than three-hour meeting, who was accompanied by the vice president for labour and industrial relations, Maurizio Marchesini, and Confindustria director general Maurizio Tarquini.

"Industrial policies, energy. And of course health and safety, on which we must find common solutions, the representativeness of the industrial sector and the trade union. It was a wide-ranging dialogue, it was good to have set two more dates precisely to continue the construction of what interests companies and workers, because workers and companies are the same thing,' Orsini continued.

Responding to journalists' questions, Orsini addressed the issue of tariffs once again: 'we are concerned about the impact, we have estimated a possible loss of exports of EUR 22.6 billion. We need to immediately build compensation, industrial policies on these issues as well: we need to put the opening of new markets and investments at the centre,' the Confindustria president stressed. Europe must act: 'it must give us important signals, we need an extraordinary plan to relaunch European industry. It is crucial for competitiveness and to be even stronger, because there are not only tariffs, but also the issue of the euro-dollar devaluation, a burden that many are underestimating'. Refreshments? "More than refreshments, we need to talk about industrial policy, a plan to relaunch European industry and the need for an Italian industrial policy. Today we are presenting measures that can support investments based on the model of the single Zes and the Southern tax credit, which has generated by putting the public 4.8 billion in two years, 28 billion in investments and 35 thousand new hires, with a GDP of 4% for the South. That is the way, we hope it will be carried forward by our government'.

The issue of tariffs also creates concern in the trade unions. For the CGIL leader, Maurizio Landini, "we must prevent relocations, the shift of production to the US, it is an important point on which we will make an in-depth study on 17 September", because "the real answer must be political and we cannot accept the logic that leads to make investments outside our country, we must address a situation that can lead to a drop in sales and exports, there is a problem not only of protecting companies but also workers and their income. In any case, we cannot think of making funding available in a haphazard manner'. Landini also reported that the unions had asked the government for a meeting, but had not yet received a response.