The Italian government has expressed a desire for open, respectful exchange in its first talks with Italy’s trade unions.
“Work is the priority of priorities,” Premier Giorgia Meloni told the CGIL, CISL and UIL chiefs on Wednesday.
“We have always recognized the importance of dialogue with social partners. Our approach is one of total openness and respect. Where the talks will take us will depend on the approach and availability of each of us”, she told Maurizo Landini, Luigi Sbarra and Pierpaolo Bombardieri.
“Right now the priority of priorities is work, the great Italian critical issue.
“Italy has one of the lowest employment rates in the West, the lowest rates of female work, the highest rates of undeclared work,” Italy’s first woman premier said.
“We are facing the most difficult moment in the history of the Republic and this requires an additional responsibility on the part of everyone. We must put aside preconceptions and, respecting different convictions, it is necessary to try to all reason in the same direction, in defence of the general interest.”
“We are in the midst of an international social crisis, we are coming out of a pandemic, there is an ongoing energy crisis, an increase in raw material costs, inflation close to 10 per cent, mostly inadequate wages, today’s pensions low, and future ones risking being non-existent.”
