«Increases in payroll, corporate welfare is not enough»- Corriere.it

Corporate welfare is no longer just for large companies. In 2022, over 68% of small and medium-sized Italian enterprises, according to the latest Generali report on welfare, exceeded the basic level of use. While the number of micro-enterprises that have resorted to it has more than doubled in five years (15.1% in 2022). Much has been achieved since the Budget Law introduced the tax relief of the productivity bonus converted into benefits in 2016. But can this tool today meet the needs of workers grappling with record inflation that is bringing down their purchasing power? We ask Federico Bellono, for ten years at the helm of the Turin Fiom, today general secretary of the provincial Chamber of Labour.

Secretary, corporate welfare born in Piedmont with Adriano Olivetti, then with Ferrero and, as you know, having lived it, in FCA. Fiom signed the national contract which in 2021 introduced important innovations on corporate welfare.
Recourse to corporate welfare went hand in hand with measures that gave it incentives from a fiscal point of view, making it very convenient for businesses and creating new business.

What made it convenient even according to the union that signed that contract?
Until now, corporate welfare has been something additional and has mainly involved situations with higher average wages, where there is secondary negotiation. But I remember that the bargaining concerns only a minority of workers.

Of what has been done so far, save anything?
I don’t want to make a principled reasoning. In many companies where more could not be obtained, over the years agreements have been made, for example, on restaurant tickets or petrol vouchers. In everyday reality, everyone makes fire with the wood they have.

Was welfare in the health field also useful during the pandemic?
Yes, the deficit of the National Health Service is there for all to see and has worsened with the pandemic. On that front, supplementary instruments have their value, as in the social security sector.

But?
But the wage problem is a wage problem. And Italian: we are the European country where the real value of wages has decreased. Corporate welfare cannot be the solution. It cannot be believed that it can work as a substitute for wage increases.

Do you think that with the current situation companies can guarantee wage increases?
Some companies have disbursed an extra month’s salary in the face of rising prices, at least those that have been able to afford it.

Precisely. Meanwhile, half of the contracted workers, around 6 million, are still awaiting renewals.
In recent days some contracts have been closed, such as that of rubber-plastic with more significant increases, almost double, compared to the previous renewal. Faced with the increase in paychecks, who wants to care if they get paid for their gym membership?

The gym membership may not, but the more basic benefits can help compared to a few euros more taxed on the paycheck.
The tax road is the high road. We are in favor of de-taxing contractual increases and cutting the tax wedge significantly.

In this case too, reality has gone in another direction: the latest budget law has cut the wedge only slightly. We have to wait for the next law…
Government choices have gone in a certain direction. It certainly could have been done better.