Post Office, 230 euro increase and first trials of a short week

For the 120,000 Poste Italiane workers comes an overall increase of 230 euro for the period 2024-2027 and the possibility of experimenting with the short week. This is what is envisaged by the agreement for the renewal of the national collective labour contract between the company and the unions (Slp Cisl, Slc Cgil, Uilposte, Confsal Com, Failp Cisal, Fnc-Ugl Com). The contract had expired at the end of 2023 and the renewal came just a few months before its expiry, with very close negotiations. The contract also includes the workers of Sda Express Courier and Poste Logistics, to whom the Logistics and Transport contract was applied in the past. For CEO Matteo Del Fante, the signing "is the result of a path in which everyone has been able to do their part with a great sense of responsibility to achieve a common goal, namely to improve the pay levels of our 120,000 employees, sustaining their purchasing power, and contribute to the company's growth path in order to consolidate its leadership in the Italian corporate landscape. This contractual agreement is therefore the best premise to take up the challenge posed by the new Industrial Plan 'The Platform Company'.

The pay increase of EUR 230 gross average will be spread over the entire term of the contract, with an increase in the minimum wage equal to EUR 192 gross average, explains a Poste note. Employees will also receive a one-off payment of EUR 1,000 gross on average in September, by way of contractual back pay 2024 and an advance on future economic improvements. The agreement also provides for a EUR 1.26 increase in the daily meal voucher and a EUR 5 increase in the company's contribution for the basic package of the supplementary health care plan, for which the benefits have also been significantly expanded. Finally, the company contribution for Fondoposte, the supplementary pension fund for employees, will be increased from 2.3% to 2.5% of salary. The President of Poste, Silvia Rovere, expresses her 'appreciation for the workers' representatives who approached these negotiations with a great sense of responsibility. The agreement reached allows us to look with great optimism at the further growth of the company and at the future of the employees who, thanks to the new features of the contract, obtain economic and welfare guarantees, in the wake of the great attention that the company pays to the welfare of its employees".

The mediation between the company and trade unions brought about substantial changes on various issues, including participation and information rights, gender issues, parental protection, part-time regulations, working hours, training and the right to study. In particular, the articles of the new contract introduced the possibility of experimenting with short-week organisational models, i.e. 9 hours for 4 days, also with forms of working time reduction, with the same salary. Also revised were the chapters on travel, whose regulations, the unions explain, will no longer be unilaterally modifiable by the company, on solidarity holidays to make them easier to use, and on sickness, with an overall review of the institute of the comporto (time off work), which will provide greater protection for illnesses that require very long absences. An allowance for those who perform relational activities has also been introduced. "This agreement is the cornerstone of a broader strategy with which Poste Italiane has placed the valorisation of people at the centre of the development of its activities," interprets Poste Italiane's General Manager Giuseppe Lasco. "We are a great element of attraction for the labour market, a vanguard of modernity in industrial relations, and this agreement allows us to strengthen the system of protections, the rights of workers, and the valorisation of participation institutes.

For Luigi Sbarra, number one of the CISL, it is 'excellent news'. "The signature comes after a close confrontation that lasted five months as a result of the significant initial distance between the parties on salary increases," explains Raffaele Roscigno, secretary general of Slp Cisl. 'This result,' continues Roscigno, 'is a significant step forward in terms of rights and protection for all employees. Nicola Di Ceglie of Slc CGIL adds that 'the experimentation of the short week, with a possible hourly reduction for the same salary, is a new frontier that goes towards improving the quality of life of workers'. Claudio Solfaroli Camillocci of Uilposte considers 'fully achieved the objective of improving the normative part with concrete social advances'. Now the word goes to the workers, who from September will meet in assemblies to vote on the hypothesis of the agreement.