| Author (Person) | Benassi, Chiara, Durazzi, Niccolo |
|---|---|
| Series Title | EUROPP Blog |
| Series Details | 17.11.14 |
| Publication Date | 17/11/2014 |
| Content Type | Journal | Series | Blog |
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Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has made reforming the Italian labour market a priority for his government. Chiara Benassi and Niccolo Durazzi assess the argument that Italy’s trade unions are an obstacle to such reforms on the basis that they support only their core membership, rather than a broader agenda which includes ‘atypical’ workers such as agency staff. They argue that unions have taken on a much broader stance than they are typically credited with and that if Renzi is serious about reforming the country’s labour market it would be beneficial to work with unions rather than against them. However, Prime Minister Renzi hit back at unionists on the 20 November 2014 over a planned general strike in December 2014, arguing that controversial government reforms would create much-needed jobs after years of 'lost opportunity'. On 3 December 2014, the Italian Senate gave final approval to the package of economic reforms supported by Matteo Renzi’s government, generally referred to as the ‘Jobs Act’. The reforms had divided opinion in Italy, with trade unions voicing opposition and backing a number of demonstrations by workers against the changes. Alessandro Giovannini and Ilaria Maselli wrote (see related url hyperlink from the LSE EuroppBlog of 04.12.14) that while there were some legitimate problems with the reforms, such as the lack of accompanying changes in welfare spending, the opposition of Italian trade unions had acted as an obstacle to gaining a genuinely progressive deal for Italy’s workers. |
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| Source Link | http://bit.ly/11dlkqj |
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| Subject Categories | Politics and International Relations |
| Countries / Regions | Italy |
