«Yes to another taxman, no to precariousness. Today full square against the government»- Corriere.it

CGIL, CISL and UIL take to the streets against the government which has just decided to cut the tax wedge by another 4 points. How do you explain?
«The government’s provision is a one-off measure – replies the secretary of the CGIL, Maurizio Landini -. Furthermore, there is no increase in deductions that we had asked for to balance the fiscal drag caused by inflation on wages and pensions”.

However, with the latest decisions, the government has brought the cut of the wedge to 7 points on wages up to 25 thousand euros and to 6 points between 25 thousand and 35 thousand. More than the 5 points you ask for in the Cgil, Cisl and Uil platform.
«I repeat: it is a cut for six months. When we met the government on Sunday, we asked the economy minister about it. And Giorgetti replied that the provision lasts until December, without making any commitments for the aftermath. It’s not what we want. Our platform claims the overcoming of precariousness; a tax reform in the opposite direction to that of the government; an extraordinary contribution to the profits; pension reform; the renewal of contracts while the government has not put a euro for public employees; investments and hirings for health and public schools; the strengthening of safety at work”.

Today in the square in Bologna, for the first of your three national demonstrations, there will be the opposition parties and in particular the secretary of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein. It hasn’t happened in a long time. Happy?
«Look, it is important for us that the squares are full of the people we represent. And the square in Bologna will be full, I’m sure of it, also due to how well the thousands of assemblies we held in the workplace went. Then, all our demonstrations are open to anyone who wants to participate, sharing our proposals, including the parties”.

On the other hand, the leader of the 5 Stars, Giuseppe Conte, who often participated in the initiatives of the CGIL, will not be there. She is sorry? Did you hear?
“I haven’t heard from anyone. Each leader decides what he wants. We are focused on affirming the interests of young people, workers, retirees who will fill the square”.

The government has commissioned INPS and Inail. How do you judge this decision?
«A wrong forcing, dangerous in a difficult phase for the country. The urgency of this decision is not understood in the face of a positive work that has been carried out by the top police officers. A choice made among other things without a preventive confrontation with the unions, which represent workers and pensioners, majority shareholders of these entities”.

You are dissatisfied with what the government does for wages. But if Italian wages are the only ones in the OECD to have decreased by 2.9% in the last thirty years, one might ask: where was the union?
«We are the country that has one of the highest levels of precariousness in Europe and that has made the least investments in innovation and quality. We have come from years in which the logic of the reduction of rights has prevailed. Wages are also low because we have a tax system that burdens labor and favors income. The union has had to deal with all these processes. This is why we say that the new citizenship pact is based on a tax reform that restores fairness, unlike that of the government which ignores the principle of progressivity and continues to penalize wages and pensions”.

Are there the conditions today to reverse course?
“There is a great need for a union. I feel it every time I talk to people, in assemblies and outside, because living conditions and inequalities are getting unbearably worse. This is why we are presenting platforms for the renewal of contracts with substantial requests for salary increases and we are mobilizing on taxation, pensions and precariousness”.

What do you think of the French union’s fight against the pension reform?
«For the first time in 15 years, all unions, and not only them, are supporting this battle. They are important news. As well as the mobilizations in Spain and the United Kingdom. At the end of the month, in Berlin, at the European trade union congress, I think we should discuss how to promote common initiatives on wages, taxes and the welfare state. There is a European dimension where the conflict must express itself».

Do you think that the conflict should escalate in Italy too? Or that it is better to work for a new social pact with the government and businesses, as the CISL would like?
«Before talking about pacts come the contents and, as far as we are concerned, that of May is only the beginning of a mobilization which, without answers from the government – and from companies, because we want the renewal of contracts from them – we will have to give continuity without excluding anything.

Are we heading towards a general strike?
“We will decide it together with Cisl and Uil on the basis of what the government and businesses will do”.

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