Food, the unions are asking for a 300 euro increase and 24 fewer days of work per year

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There is an increase, there are protections and there is a reduction in working hours. The platform for the renewal of the contract of the 450,000 workers in the food industry and cooperation was approved yesterday by the governing bodies of Fai, Flai and Uila and will be brought to the workers’ assemblies in the next few days. Once amended and approved, probably by the end of May, beginning of June, it will arrive on the table of Federalimentare and its 13 associations and on that of Agci-Agrital-Confcooperative Fedagripesca, Legacoop-Agroalimentare. The unions consider the 2 negotiations with a unitary approach and ask for a salary increase of over 300 euros over the four-year period, in order to be able to recover the purchasing power lost with the last contract. In addition to a decisive strengthening of the national welfare system.

The increase of over 300 euros

Going into the merits of the 300 euros, referring to parameter 137, 230 euros relate to the minimum increase and 70 euros to the additional increase in salary, to allow everyone “to benefit from the exceptional performance that the food sector as a whole has achieved and is realizing», write the three acronyms in a note. There will then also be added 30 euros for the economic treatment for lack of second-level bargaining.

The reduction of hours

Central to the platform is the request for a reduction in weekly working hours, which for Fai, Flai and Uila must go from 40 to 36 hours, for the same salary, to respond to the challenge of changing work. This means working four hours in less per week, i.e. 16 hours less per month. Uncontacted we are therefore talking about 24 days less per year.

participatory relationships

The document dwells on the positive trend of the sector and underlines that in addition to the economic recovery, the objective is «to make the system of trade union relations more participatory and continuous, and to strengthen the protections present in the sector to respond to the challenges of innovations, digitization and of global competitiveness, starting from the revision of the national classification system, also realizing a better work-life balance, at the same time increasing health and safety in the company and enhancing the training tool».

Strengthening of the protections on the contract

Finally, on the subject of tenders, the unions ask to increase non-contractable activities, strengthen protection in the event of a change of contract, strengthen the site community and identify contractual tools useful for including in the food industry contract all those workers who carry out their activities on an ongoing basis within the same site, counteracting precariousness and limiting the use of both fixed-term and open-ended contracts.