Vocational training: industrial action declared

On 27 May, talks between the trade unions FLC CGIL, CISL Scuola, UIL Scuola and SNALS Confsal and the employers’ associations FORMA and CENFOP regarding the renewal of the second two-year pay period under the National Collective Labour Agreement for Vocational Training ended without a successful outcome. A state of industrial action was therefore declared by all staff in the sector.

The trade union statement explains that this action became necessary due to FORMA and CENFOP’s refusal to accept the request for an 8% increase in the basic wage, citing as justifications uncertainties linked to regional planning, the GOL Programme and across-the-board cuts to resources in the sector. The employers’ associations’ counter-proposal, however, does not provide for any pay rise and is limited solely to the payment of corporate welfare contributions totalling €600, divided into two annual instalments of €300.

“We are aware,” the trade unions add, “that the root cause of the contractual crisis lies in the meagre funding allocated by the State and the Regions, and in the reform of Title V which, through the regionalisation of the system, has led to a gradual withdrawal of the relevant ministries (Labour and Social Policies, and Education and Merit), without the regions fully and responsibly assuming the role of organising, managing and promoting adult continuing education and Vocational Education and Training, which forms part of compulsory schooling. Nevertheless, as trade unions, we believe that a genuine renewal of the collective agreement cannot be achieved without structural changes to wages’.

The unions go on to say: ‘Welfare measures, whilst valuable as supplementary elements, cannot replace pay rises, which are the only means of permanently countering the loss of purchasing power, ensuring positive knock-on effects for pensions, valuing training professionals and restoring dignity and appeal to the sector. It is unacceptable that the structural defunding of vocational training should be offset by a pay freeze and the financial sacrifice of workers, whose professionalism ensures the stability and quality of the entire system on a daily basis.”