Plans for interventions in collective labor contracts
The government is preparing to make fresh interventions in collective labor contracts, labor relations and union representation. The Labor Ministry has already processed a series of regulations that will be the main pillar of the new investment incentives bill, expected in Parliament in the next few days.
Just like the clauses voted on during the summer – to which the unions and the opposition reacted strongly – the new regulations are likely to receive positive feedback from the country’s creditors, especially the European Commission, ahead of the new assessment later this month.
The ministry’s blueprint includes the following interventions: the exemption of companies facing major debt and sustainability problems from collective labor contracts; online voting for union members to avoid intimidation; the creation of a national collective contract register; a clause that will render part-time employment more expensive and subsidize full-time work; a regulation saying that employers’ rights according to labor contracts will be reduced if they fail to pay salaries for more than two months; and the improvement of the Ergani hirings database.
