26 March 2008

Giovanna’s letter

I’m publishing a letter that I’ve received from Giovanna Portosi, an Italian citizen who has been unemployed for some months. Giovanna’s situation deserves special attention as she is having particular difficulties in getting back into the labour market.
Italia dei Valori has placed in the top position, its government proposal relating to the topic of work, by improving law number 30, guaranteeing an income and retraining during periods of unemployment and making available tax breaks for precarious workers.

”Good day Dr. Di Pietro,

I don’t know whether this letter will be filtered out or whether you personally will read it. However, I hope it will be read and that it is a cause for reflection.
On Saturday 22 march, I turned 52. No, it’s not actually my age that sends shivers down my spine, but other things that are more serious. Since September 2007, I haven’t been getting a salary. On 20 December 2007, the firm where I worked, closed its doors and on 20 February it was declared bankrupt.
I signed up to the local employment office but they gave me to understand that it was best if I looked for work on my own; I spend whole days looking at job adverts but my greatest agony is to read “maximum age: 45”. If it goes well, those over 50 are prevented from getting from training for the unemployed.
Rarely, after I’ve sent off my CV, someone deigns to reply. Not to mention then the temporary-work agencies that are sprouting up like mushrooms. They attract you with repetitive adverts on various sites, I’ve wondered, following various adverts that have been repeated for months. Whether it’s a mirror for sky larks, the demand is created spontaneously, but have they got a deal for every candidate that “hits” their database? Like the animal sanctuary that get a sum for every animal they look after?
Closed doors for those over 50 for the world of work. Too young for the pension law. No. It’s not that I want to remain idle. I’m a really active women and being forced to stay unemployed is really annoying for me. I’m just asking to be able to work. But for those of us who are “new-old” there’s no job and no one protecting us.
I’m no longer young and beautiful. Thus I can’t expect to find a rich man who can keep me and to be honest I would feel like a worm if I were to be so submissive.
Another thing I want to tell you. In all my 30 years of work, I’ve never asked INPS for anything. The employment office meanwhile suggested I ask there for unemployment benefit. But there again, there’s no one to guide you or to tell you how to prepare a request. With phlegm they write to tell you that a document is missing. You take it along and days pass. They write back to tell you that another sheet of paper is missing. OK this happened 4 times and I was going up and down and we’ve got nearly to the end of March without knowing whether or not they will give me an allowance.
It’s not fair! Anyway they have their salary and they don’t understand the difficulties of those who as well as having lost their job and the monthly salary who knows if they will manage to get this even having gone through the Trades Unions. It’s offensive for those like me who are undergoing this difficulty.
This bureaucratic discomfort, the precarious workers, the lack of protection of workers, these should be the levers of good policies. I’m shouting out about my suffering because I don’t know what to do for these 8 years before I can get a pension. I just need to get a job so as not to feel like a parasite on society. I’m not asking for the moon nor the sun, just a mere job. I’ve got 30 years experience in administration. But my experience is not taken into consideration.

Why have I written to you? Simply because I have been following your activity for years and I hold you in high esteem and I believe in your words and in your campaigns.
I am taking the opportunity to offer you good wishes for your activity.

Giovanna Portosi."

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Work
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19 February 2008

Michele and Claudio will not vote on 13 April

Michele Truocchio and Claudio Ingoglia will not vote on 13 April
No TV News bulletin has included this in its opening headlines. And yet they should have done. They died for us as well. They died at work.
Michele, 44 years old, in Sant’Agata dei Goti in the province of Benevento, Claudio, 22 years old, in Campobello di Mazara near Trapani, both on 16 February.
On this site, each day, I am publishing the names of those who have died at work.
Every day someone dies and almost every time it’s a matter of an avoidable death.
Whoever dies leaves behind families that receive a cheque, if they receive it and then they are forgotten. At the centre of the election debate this national disgrace must find the maximum space. Deaths at work are not fatalities.

In the first position, Italia dei Valori has placed the topic of WORK in its election proposals with these three points:

- Improve law 30 (maximum percentage of precarious workers present in a company to be 10%, reduction of the tax burden for the companies and for the employees on fixed term contracts.)
- Definition of facilities to get young people started in the world of work
- Increase in the harshness of penalties for the owners of companies who do not guarantee the safety of workers with the closure of the company in the most serious cases.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Work
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27 December 2007

Prevention and safety, now!

I hereby acknowledge receipt of, and publish, a letter from Marco Bazzoni, worker representative for workplace safety.
"The workplace killings at Thyssenkrupp in Turin are still very much in all our thoughts. While I would have expected the Prodi Government to take some sort of concrete action, this has unfortunately not been the case.
On Tuesday 18 December, 5 workers died within the space of a few hours (a worker at the Fiat factory in Melfi, a 22-year old worker in Rome, a 50-year old worker in Alessandria, a 55-year old worker in Venice and a 37-year old carpenter in Modena). Yesterday saw the death of Rosario Rodinò, the sixth worker who suffered severe burns at the Thyssenkrupp plant in Turin. He was only 26 years old!!! I ask myself: what more needs to happen before the Prodi Government takes some sort of concrete action in order to put a stop to fatalities in the workplace?
Following the deaths at Thyssenkrupp, both the Labour Minister, Cesare Damiano, and Prime Minister Romano Prodi have done nothing other than reiterate that there are laws in place and that all that is required is to ensure that these laws are respected. I am fully in agreement with this, however, the real problem is something else: there is a lack of people to ensure such compliance. The real problem, just in case the Government has not yet realised this, is that there are only 1950 Asl accident prevention officers to cover the whole of Italy, in order to enforce workplace safety in 5 million companies requiring inspection. It is estimated that, should they inspect all of the companies with the available personnel, each company would be inspected only once every 33 years. So, what do the companies have to fear with regard to penalties when there is no one around to carry out inspections? Why don’t we simply reverse the freeze on new appointments, so that additional safety officers can be employed in order to increase the number of workplace inspections?
On 17 December it was announced that Campania Regional Premier Bassolino and Healthcare Councillor Montemarano had adopted a regional council resolution aimed at employing another 200 workplace safety inspectors. The news would appear to be great, except that the resolution provides for the retraining of healthcare staff (how this is to be done is still completely unknown), who would then be reassigned to Safety Inspection duties, without any concern for issues such as the competence, professionalism, suitability and effectiveness of the interventions and to the dismay of all the students reading for their degrees in accident prevention. And to think that, just a few hours ago, the Chamber and the Government approved the measures aimed at reversing the freeze on the engagement of Accident Prevention Officers. I am therefore obliged to stand firmly behind the call by the “AITeP” (Italian Workplace Accident Prevention Officers Association) to increase the number of Safety Inspectors in Campania by 200, and no to "simply" retraining existing staff. We want to see the employment of some real Accident Prevention Officers.
Furthermore, I would dearly like to put a stop to the practice of agreeing to appoint additional safety inspectors only after a worker is killed or injured in the workplace, once and for all. The workplace inspectors have only a minor appointment as regards workplace safety on site (DPCM 1997). And that’s it. Safety inspections are the domain of the Asl (Law 833/78). We have said this on so many previous occasions that even the walls have understood, but apparently not the Prodi Government.
In addition, I would also like the Government to be clear on one issue: of these 300 labour inspectors, only 75, and I repeat, only 75 are actual workplace safety inspectors charged with carrying out workplace safety inspections on site, while the remaining 225 are charged with enforcing contribution payments, in other words, dealing with the primary function of the Regional and Provincial labour Directorates. It is obvious that inspections alone are not enough to resolve the problem of workplace safety and that much more is required, however, let’s start with these in the meantime.
In conclusion, I appeal to the journalists to spread the word and to make it clear, once and for all, who is actually responsible for carrying out workplace safety inspections. And please, don’t turn the spotlight away from the issue of workplace safety. We need to keep the attention focussed on this issue, now more than ever before.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Work
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19 December 2007

The never-ending slaughter

The spotlight on the five people that died at the ThyssenKrupp plant in Turin have now been turned off, however, workplace fatalities are currently following hot on each other’s heels in an appalling manner. Today alone, another five people have died: in a foundry in the Province of Alessandria, in a workshop in Venice and at a sewerage plant construction site in Rome, as well as at Vignola and Melfi.
This kind of daily tragedy, which is the result of a work culture that is founded mainly, or perhaps even entirely on profit, and also the result of the inadequacy of the penalties facing those responsible, needs to be broadcast continuously and effectively.
My Blog, and that of the “Italia Dei Valori” Party, will soon be publishing these so-called white deaths: numbers, names, companies and causes, on a daily basis. I want to open urgent discussions within Government, in order to discuss the relationship (because there certainly is a relationship) between temporary employment and work-related fatalities, as well as any possible legislative solutions.
In fact, we cannot deny that a temporary worker is easily blackmailed and is thus obliged to risk his life in order to keep his job. Furthermore, the temporary worker employed for short periods of time in a factory or a company is often not given the adequate time or training necessary in order to avoid the risks that are sometimes even fatal.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Work
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10 December 2007

The false emergencies

The matter of work related death is being classified as a national emergency. Anyone that has been following this blog for any length of time will be well aware that this issue is anything but an emergency. People have been dying in the workplace every day, without respite, for many years now. Use of the term “emergency” is a last resort for the people that have never done anything concrete to address the problem. The so-called Gypsy emergency was, indeed, a widely acknowledged fact, long before Mrs. Reggiani’s death. The temporary worker emergency, the poor health care emergency, the emergency of semi-freedom of speech, the conflict of interests emergency, the emergency of a justice system that is lying in tatters, without adequate resources and being targeted by ongoing political interference, and the emergency of the current electoral law that, as I remind my readers, fails to make any provision for citizens to directly elect their preferred candidate. It would appear that the Country is nothing but an unending list of emergencies.
The word “emergency” is being used, like a fig leaf, in order to conceal political liability. I certainly do not exclude myself in this regard, and I too am obliged to bear a certain amount of responsibility for having been unable to convince our Government allies. I have raised the issue of these so-called “emergencies” in Cabinet on numerous occasions in the past, as clearly proven by the weekly videos published in this space. Unfortunately however, I have not always enjoyed full support from my allies. I have always done everything in my power, and continue to do so to this day, but I believe that the idea of causing the Government to fall, which is often proposed as a solution in the readers’ comments on my blog, would be the worst possible thing that could happen, because it would deliver the Country back into the hands of those who managed to almost totally destroy the Welfare State and freedom of information, into the very hands of those that would certainly go on to complete the task, of this I am convinced.
I will continue to expose the profound sense of malaise that is exerting its effect on many different aspects of our Country, and I will continue to intervene whenever possible. However, the term “emergency” nevertheless makes me itch, because it constitutes both an admission of failure, and hypocrisy. As regards work related deaths, the issue is not an emergency, but simply a matter of a political desire not to take action, displayed to date, even by the current Government.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Work
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20 November 2007

The social evil of work deaths

With a background of general indifference, every day one or more people die while they are at work, the so-called workplace fatalities.
The scale of this social evil is such that it could be considered a true emergency for the whole country. In 2007 it’s estimated there were 1400 people who died at work and tens of thousands of injured, often causing permanent invalidity.
It’s evident that what has been done so far, both at the level of legislation and in the way of greater efficacy in the controls that this Government has put in place, even though they are a step in the right direction, are not enough. Further measures must be put in place as soon as possible. These must include increasing the number of inspectors, as today there are not enough (in fact many companies never get a visit), and a different way of managing the contracting by the Public Administration. Activities are often handed over by the Public Administration and by companies with public participation to contracting companies who in turn contract them out to others and so on. This is done without any real control.
The last company in the chain is the least costly, but also the one that is least equipped. It often has underpaid workers, often not on the books, and it is the one that is most exposed to fatal accidents and unfortunately these often happen.
The Public Administration does not answer for these fatalities, but in reality it is responsible.
I propose that this chain of contractors and subcontractors starting with the Public Administration is limited. Furthermore, I propose that the civic responsibility for the accidents remains with the Public Administration that could in the end claim damages from the contractors.
PS. Today sees the creation of the new Newsletter of the party. For those who want to sign up to it and read the article, I’m giving a link to the Italia dei Valori website. The box in the top right-hand corner can be used to sign up to the future editions of the Newsletter.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Work
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13 October 2007

Work, Precariousness, Future

Another topic dealt with at Vasto was the labour market.

“There are about five and a half million precarious workers, most of whom are young. They cannot plan their future, make families or take out mortgages.
The number is going up – as is the number of the many graduates who are fleeing abroad. Social security for these people is non existent. If they get a pension, it’ll be at survival levels.
Law number 30 should be revised in favour of workers. It’s not OK that certain companies are made up almost entirely of precarious workers simply so that they can make use of tax benefits. Nor is it acceptable that the precarious workers earn a lot less than the employees.
Work for young people is a national problem. It’s got social urgency. Added to this is the scourge of those killed at work. Every day there are new deaths because of the lack of safety regulations. It’s truly a war.
The State must intervene by increasing the severity of the penalties with a true and efficient inspection service. Not just a paper service as often happens now. Anyone causing the death of a worker, often the family breadwinner, because of inattention or the lack of investment in safety, must pay the price even with the closing down of the company.
A necessary part of the development of the country is the creation of a real integration between the companies and the universities, as happens for example in the United States. Innovation, research and the world of work must be together in synergy triggered off by precise initiatives and incentives from the State and the Regions. These would lead to the creation of new industrial complexes.
Furthermore, we need the widespread use of broadband, and the freeing up of Wi-Max as the basis for the development of the country. Every day that passes we are getting further away from the Europe that counts.
Whereas a Danish or English child at the elementary school is studying with an Internet connection, with us they have to have a backpack filled with 10 Kilos of books and they are memorizing multiplication tables instead of being obliged to learn English."

PS. An extract of my speech at Vasto is published on the portal of Italia dei Valori.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Work
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19 August 2007

The precarious workers and law number 30

This autumn there will be demonstrations for and against the law number 30, relating to employment. The current labour laws have been proposed by governments and approved by Parliament, and discussed with Trades Unions. To refer to them with the name of a person I believe to be fundamentally incorrect and an abuse. Everyone wanted the labour laws, or almost everyone. The problem we should ask is not whether or not to demonize law number 30 or who wants to repeal them or discuss the Red Brigades. The problem is whether or not the labour laws function and whether they can be improved. In Italy, there are 5 and a half million precarious workers. What future can they have? How much are they paid? How many days a year do they work? What protection do they have? For how long are they living in a precarious situation? Have they got the possibility to create a family? Can they get a mortgage for their home?
These are the questions to which we must give a response.
Most of the precarious workers are young. Thus they represent the future of Italy. The idea that full employment has been reached that is used to avoid discussing the current laws, reminds me of statistics about Italians who all ate half a chicken. In reality some ate a whole one and others ate none. Today many have a full time job, others work just for a few months a year, often underpaid. We must start again to discuss, and very soon, the quality of work and the guarantees for the workers. We cannot leave 5 and a half million precarious workers with little protection and without political representation and thus consign them to the extreme left or to anti-politics.
We need to go beyond law number 30 without demonizing it.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Work
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2 May 2007

May Day

Today is the feast of the workers. This event, rather than to be celebrated is an occasion for reflecting on the conditions in which the world of work finds itself.
There are at least two problems to be tackled: those who have died at work and those with precarious contracts.
The government is committed to reducing the number of accidents at work with more resources, a more effective measure would be to have laws that are more severe.
The entrepreneurs, however, have to do their bit.
The widespread use of precarious contracts, due to a free and easy application of the Biagi law by many companies, has not had, for now, the same attention with adequate legal proposals.
The Biagi law, was created to make it easier fro young people to enter the world of work but it has often been used to increase the company’s profits and reduce the costs and the risks associated with taking on a permanent employee.
In fact, how is it possible that there are companies with 90% of their workforce on precarious contracts and with work projects that are simply invented?
It’s a situation that exploits and marginalizes people and has an impact on the economy. In fact who would give credit to a precarious worker?
And with what spirit can a precarious worker invest in their future?
It’s not possible to form families without a minimum of social security.
Italia dei Valori, as we have already promised, will do what is possible to get the government to improve the Biagi law and make it more balanced in favour of the worker.
Furthermore, during the month of May, Parliament will put forward a proposal to modify the law.
The idea of precarious working has come into the world of work like an illness. It has to be stopped before it becomes endemic.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Work
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26 September 2006

The Biagi Law

In the Italia dei Valori meeting at Vasto, we talked about work and about the Biagi law.
A controversial law that starts from principles connected to liberalisation of work and facilitating the entrance of young people into companies, has then often been transformed into an abuse by the companies and indirectly (and at times directly) by the public administration.

The so-called project work (co.co.pro.) has been used to justify continuing activity that has nothing to do with the concept of a project, for example as in the call centres.

The Biagi law has in fact institutionalised precarious working with the consequences that can be imagined: new poverty and social instability, especially among those who are least protected and among the young people.

The Biagi law needs correcting if it is to work:
- it cannot be applied in an indiscriminate way in the companies and must therefore be limited to a percentage of the work force, for example 10%;
- it cannot be applied in the absence of a real project with clear objectives and a defined timeframe;
- the co.co.pro workers must benefit from tax allowances that are generous when compared to those of a regular worker because of the precariousness of their situation.

The reform of the Biagi law is in Italia dei Valori’s action programme.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Work
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20 September 2006

Safety in the workplace. The silence of the media.

I’m publishing this letter received from a representative of workers for safety in the work place.

“I have decided to write to you to present an issue that is common to most media: there’s very little discussion about safety in the work place.
I just can’t understand why the newspapers give information about deaths in the work place such tiny amounts of space so that if you are not paying attention you miss them, or even worse they don’t report them at all.
This is the reality of most Italian newspapers when discussing these accidents that are very rarely fatalities, but mostly inobservances of the minimum levels of safety rules. . “L’Osservatore Romano” has defined this «slaughter in indifference».

Never were words truer. If we then go and watch the TV. It’s even worse. The only one to talk about this is “Primo Piano”.

According to those directing the TV it’s better to do transmissions (if that’s how they can be defined) like “L’isola dei famosi” {I’m a Celebrity, Get me out of here}, “Grande Fratello” (Big Brother), “la talpa”, “la fattoria”, etc. But real life is different: it is made up of labourers, brick layers, office workers, farm workers etc who go to work in the morning (to earn an honest wage) and they don’t know if they’ll come home in the evening.

This must not happen any more. Before doing the Unified Text for safety at work, the Health Minister Livia Turco should have taken on more personnel in the Work Inspectorate and in the ASLs to do more checks, to sort out and give sanctions to habits of entrepreneurs that lead to the avoidance of the regulations.

We have good laws about safety at work, but it’s useless if there’s no one to check up, because most business people are loathe to put them into practice, as they are considered to be costs. This is why the media should do their part, by starting to put safety at work and black market working (or grey work whatever it is) on the front pages of the newspapers (with big articles).

The media have the moral duty to raise awareness of public opinion on these topics, so as to increase the level of the culture of safety at work among workers and among business people.”
Marco Bazzoni

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Work
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26 June 2006

The tragedy of the Catania-Siracusa

photo ansa.it

I gave an interview to Umberto Rosso of la Repubblica about the tragedy related to the collapse of a bridge on the Catania-Siracusa motorway.

UR: Minister Di Pietro, on the day that the closure of the ANAS construction site was announced, there was a dramatic work accident.
ADP: It’s the “general contractor” system that’s not working. The race against time to hand over a completed unit of work means that safety at work is being ignored. And then we cry for those who died. As for the closure, it’s too easy to say that the money has finished.

UR: What does that mean?
ADP: It means that I want to know why and how the money has finished.

UR: And have you discovered that?
ADP: A few weeks ago I had sent out a cry of alarm myself about the lack of cash in ANAS’s coffers. Since then I certainly haven’t been idle. In this first phase of activity as Minister of Infrastructure, I have thus been busy finding out the situation before taking action.

UR: Have you thus discovered how the coffers come to be empty?
ADP: For a multitude of reasons. These include the improper use of money, for reasons that are different from those for which it was allocated.

UR: These are serious accusations, especially coming from a Minister with the name of Antonio Di Pietro.
ADP: I have come across a series of situations and threads to be followed up. These are lines that are criminal, civil, administrative and accounting.

UR: Have you already informed the competent authorities?
ADP: On Tuesday I will talk about this at the meeting of the Public Works Committee called first in the Lower House then in the Upper House. I will ask the presidents to consider keeping secret this part of what I have to say. It will be up to them to decide whether to do that.

UR: Was this “improper use” of ANAS money that you are denouncing something that happened under the management of the Berlusconi government?
ADP: I can’t say more. It is certainly something very serious, and I will talk about it in detail with the Parliamentary committees. It almost seems that the Centre Left has no wish to complete the construction work, but those others have even eaten the Coliseum…..

UR: Will you also talk about the Catania-Siracusa accident in Parliament?
ADP: I have organised a ministerial inspection and I expect to get the dossier about the causes today. Generally, I believe that it is the new model of awarding contracts that is not working, since it is based only on the logic of wild deregulation.

UR: The “general contractor” system means a risk to safety at work?
ADP: The system entrusts to a single entity all the steps to bring about a particular construction. That includes the measures put in place for safety and for ensuring that regulations for accident prevention are adhered to. But almost always, the general contractors find themselves to be in a situation of conflict of interests.

UR: What does that mean?
ADP: The race to finish the work to be handed over leaves the safety of the workers in second place.

UR: How do you think you can change that, Minster?
ADP: By having a third party in charge of managing the money and of watching over safety. This would be someone standing between the commissioning body and the general contractor. Today it’s as though you had the majority shareholder of a company selecting who is to audit the accounts. In that case the auditors would obviously not go against the accounts of the “owners” of the company. And in the construction sites, unfortunately, only the interests of those who have won the contract are those that count. They have all the cards in their hand.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Work
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19 March 2006

Our Young People

Young French people are demonstrating against the approval of the law for the first job “CPE” Contract Première Embauche.
According to the intentions of the French Government, the law should reduce unemployment.
As the young people see it, it’s exactly the opposite. For them, employment would become “precarious” with no prospect of development.
In fact the CPE allows for the sacking of a young person up to the age of 26 years with no reason given.
Unfortunately the demonstrations are degenerating into clashes with the police and general disorderliness. Some commentators are talking of a “French Wind” that may blow into Italy.
Employment rates for young people in Italy have reached one of their worst levels. Data from OCSE show unemployment levels at 24% and starvation wages for 60.9% of the young people up to the age of 25, at less than two thirds of the average salary for a full time worker.
The Bank of Italy has estimated in its Bollettino statistico that 49.8% of the Italian people in the age range from 15 to 29 years have found work in 2005 only thanks to “short term contracts”.
Data from IRES CGIL shows that 22.3% of those with a job in the age range between 25 and 32 earns less than 800 Euro a month.
Overall, we can see that this is a disaster on the scale of Caporetto falling on the young people, and not a growth in employment.
Here if something has grown it’s the debts of this country and the cheek of the current Minister of the Economy who sheds doubt on the data from ISTAT and from the Bank of Italy.
It is a serious situation that must be dealt with straight away by the next Government to review the Biagi Law which unfortunately has often been applied only to increase company profits whilst ignoring the future of the country, the only one that we have: our young people.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Work
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25 February 2006

Work and Dignity

Two words that I'm keen to promote throughout this election campaign are Work and Dignity.

The two words are inseparable because you can’t have work without dignity. It's not possible to work for salaries that are like charity handouts, as often happens in many Call Centres, or with the 3-monthly fear of not having the contract renewed.

The de-regulation of work has brought the younger generations to manage with temporary jobs, often without any professional content, even though they have gained a professional qualification. The only choice for many of these young people is to move abroad.

We are arriving at the point of inflicting wounds on ourselves by asking the Italian State to help educate engineers and researchers and then see them get their experience in foreign organisations.

This Government always mentions jobs as an objective that has been achieved.

The Government is talking about jobs that are imaginary.

During this election campaign I am visiting 2 or 3 different places every day and I’m only seeing factories that are closing down, manual workers being laid off (in Italian they are in “cassa integrazione”), foreign companies that are disinvesting.

This is confirmed in an analysis done by the CISL on the industry sector, from which I’ve extracted 2 items:

There are 251,175 workers who have been laid off (in “cassa integrazione”), this is an increase of 6.2%

There are 103,962 workers who have been fired or in an interim state (referred to as  “in mobilità”), this is an increase of 8.8%.

This is a desolate situation. To start again we need years of investment targeted at production activities, particularly those with a high innovation element.

And in any case the application of the Biagi law must be reconsidered urgently so that security and dignity can be restored to all workers and especially to the young ones.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Work
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23 February 2006

An Italian Family

I’ve decided to publish a letter received in response to my “New Poverty” post.

It makes you feel sick to read it.

Dear friends, we need to change Government and then we need to roll up our sleeves to construct a real future together.

“45 years, a family, a mortgage and the car still to be paid for, I’ve been an employee for 12 years, then they decided they could do without me. I work as a sales agent for a mega company. Last month they wiped out 500 Euro of commission and very shortly, they’ll probably send me home for low productivity. I forgot, I’ve got a degree, various specialist courses and a book published. I’ve seriously thought of taking out life insurance and jumping from a viaduct over the motorway., at least I could provide a minimum future for my son. A future that none of the modern slave drivers is willing to offer me in exchange for my work.”

Franco B.

Franco’s words are worth more then an electoral programme.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Work
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30 January 2006

Flexible Working doesn’t mean Precarious Jobs

Those who govern must permit the citizens, in particularly the young ones, to gain entry to the labour market.

They must be allowed to develop their capacity at the same time as their liberty and dignity is safeguarded.

This has not been happening in the last 5 years and the interest of the business world have had the upper hand.

This government has allowed the use of certain mechanisms to make work flexible (short-term contracts, temporary work, part-time, job sharing). These are legal and in some cases appropriate, but they are being used to keep the worker in a state of permanent precariousness.

This has been experienced by young people in recent years and they have suffered from this.

An example is the decree that put into law the European directive about discrimination at work. It didn’t include the important principle of the inversion of the burden of proof, imposed on the employer by the European directive.

In practise, according to the Government, it is the responsibility of the employer to prove that there has not been a violation of the principle of equal treatment, and it’s not the responsibility of the person discriminated against, often the weaker party to the discussion!

This is why on 19 January, I laid a question down for the European commission about this problem.

Flexible working cannot be transformed into precarious working.

It is a state of affairs that generates uncertainty. It prevents young people from investing in their future, from creating a family.

Work must not be just begging.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Work
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