Minimum wage: the opposition’s proposal and the government’s no

The theme of minimum salary it has been discussed for years and the purchasing power of Italian salaries has been blocked for years, but now there is a bill that brings together most of the opposition, excluding Italia Viva. The mandatory minimum wage threshold in the proposal is nine euros per hour, “to protect in particular the most fragile and poorest sectors of the world of work, in which the bargaining power of trade union organizations is weaker”.

INPS statistics say that in Italy there are about 4.6 million workers who do not manage to earn 9 euros gross per hour. The lowest peaks are in housework and agriculture. Confindustria says that all the contracts discussed with the unions have an hourly wage above 9 euros. The average annual wage has increased, from 1990 to today, by only 0.3% in Italy.

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However, Labor Minister Marina Calderone says from the government that she is not “convinced that the minimum wage can be reached by law”. For the minister and part of the unions, Cisl and Ugl, we need to invest in quality collective bargaining. On the other hand, the other unions are in favour. Most of Europe has chosen the minimum wage: it exists in 21 out of 27 EU countries, in Germany it reaches 12 euros, in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Ireland it is above 11. Last February, Spain raised the minimum wage by 8%, reaching around 7.8 euros per hour. They do not have it, together with Italy, Denmark, Austria, Finland, Sweden and Cyprus.

The proposal carried out by M5s and Pd does not only have a minimum wage, on the contrary this is a second step. The first point of the proposal envisages that an overall economic treatment not lower than that envisaged by the collective agreements be recognized. The minimum wage would therefore be a protection for those who do not enter into negotiations. Those who criticize this proposal say it would bring down all wages, even those established by collective bargaining.

The offer is not reserved only for employees: “The 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”. A Commission made up of institutional and social partner representatives should also be set up to periodically update the minimum hourly salary.