Minimum wage: united oppositions, minimum threshold 9 euros per hour. Calenda: “The government should open a discussion”

The oppositions have reached an agreement on the unitary text of the proposed law on the minimum wage. This is what we learn from a joint note signed by Giuseppe Conte (5 Star Movement), Nicola Fratoianni (Italian Left), Matteo Richetti (Action), Elly Schlein (Democratic Party), Angelo Bonelli (Green Europe) and Riccardo Magi (+ Europe) “The need for an intervention to guarantee the adequacy of workers’ wages, in particular those in conditions of poverty also due to inflation, is a qualifying element of our electoral programmes. For this reason we have worked to a single proposal that we will deposit in the Chamber in the next few days.In fact, we want to strongly underline the common belief that the time has come to fully implement article 36 of the Constitution which requires that the worker be paid a salary proportionate to the quantity and quality ‘ of the work done and sufficient to guarantee a free and dignified existence for oneself and one’s family”, reads the note

To achieve this aim, our proposal provides that: – the worker of each economic sector is recognized an overall economic treatment not lower than that provided for by the collective agreements stipulated by the comparatively most representative employers’ and trade union organizations, without prejudice to the most favorable treatments ; – as a further guarantee of the recognition of a fair wage, a mandatory minimum threshold of 9 euros per hour should be introduced, to protect in particular the most fragile and poorest sectors of the world of work, in which the bargaining power of trade unions; – fair retribution thus defined does not concern only subordinate workers, but also employment relationships that present similar needs for protection in the context of para-subordination and self-employment; – also in accordance with the provisions of the directive on the minimum wage, a Commission is set up made up of institutional representatives and of the comparatively more representative social partners which will have as its main task that of periodically updating the minimum hourly salary; – the effectiveness of the right of workers to receive decent economic treatment is regulated and therefore guaranteed; – the ultra-extractivity of expired or canceled employment contracts is recognized by law; – a period of time is recognized for adapting contracts to the new regulations, and an economic benefit in support of employers for whom this adaptation is more onerous”