WTI Magazine #44    2014 October, 1
Author : Francesca Papasergi      Translation by:

The clause 18 of the Italian Labor Statute has been disputed in the country's public debate since the early 2000s. It concerns the firms with more than fifteen employees and regulates the lay-offs. According to the current law, if one is dismissed without a legitimate reason, he can sue his employer. If the Labor Court sentences he is right, he may have the opportunity to be reinstated.

At a glance, it is hard to understand why this particular clause should be considered the source of all evil. Mr. Renzi argues that it should be cancelled because it brings inequality to the system. Italy is made up of many, very small enterprises, and the majority has less then fifteen employees. The Prime Minister thinks that those people have fewer rights than others, and he also wants to reform the very complicated tangle of subsidies, redundancy payments and grants that constitutes the Italian social security circuit. This task is more than urgent, in order to uphold temporary and occasional workers, professionals and artisans. Those citizens used to represent Italy's productive spine with small businesses, and now are paying for this crisis more than anyone because of the lack of public support for their profiles.

Obviously, the unions are on warpath and jeopardize the government with a general strike. They say it is just another attempt to let employers discharge workers without any explanation but "you're fired". In particular, the unionists dread discriminatory terminations for weaker categories, like pregnant women or sexual and racial minorities.

The unions, the opposition and several scholars claim that Italy is not competitive because of different issues, like bureaucracy, credit crunch, cost of fuel, gas, electricity and waste disposal, tax burden and courthouses slowness. All these remarks are undoubtedly correct, and the clause 18 looks like a scapegoat, but the government wants to go on with its labor market reform and it is going to start from it.

Meanwhile, another frontline is opening. Mr. Renzi promised that next year almost 150.000 teachers with ministerial qualification are going to be hired by the public system, from primary to high schools. This is going to be another fundamental issue: the public debt is Italy's sword of Damocles, it conditions every policy the government adopts, and more employees, even if utterly needed, mean more expenses.

Furthermore, despite the intake, the question wouldn't be solved at all. What about the thousands who didn't take the 4,000 euro course to get ministerial qualification? Not only they have been mistreated by sudden law changes through the years, but they are good, extremely skilled educators. After masters, PhDs and any kind of additional diplomas, they have been teaching for years in the same milieu that is going to reject them in less than twelve months. Some activists already started a campaign to get another examination and obtain the qualification with it, but it is not going to be easy at all.

We know it is a dirty Job, Mr. Renzi, but please, spare us the workers' bloodbath. We already had enough.