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20 March 2012

Reuters: Monti's moment of truth, facing trade unions


Mario Monti has a meeting with Italy's trade union bosses, knowing it can help make or break his brief tenure as prime minister and his attempts to drag the economy out of the mire.

At the head of a government of technocrats installed with the approval of European Union partners - and Italy's creditors - Monti has already forced through a €33 billion austerity package to try to stop the rot in public finances. He has made Italians swallow sharp cuts in future pension provisions, and has done away with a swathe of regulations on service businesses.

Monti, who has made labour market reform a priority for his government since the outset, faces a first big moment of truth when he tries to deliver on a promise to broker an agreement on labour market reforms. Failure to persuade union leaders, who fear they may have already given too much away in the atmosphere of national emergency, could mean mass strikes and ructions within Monti's left-right parliamentary coalition.

The prime minister has vowed to press on with reforms regardless, setting a deadline of the end of the month for trying to reach a workable compromise. And whatever happens on Tuesday, the arguments are likely to rumble on.

Employers complain that regulations, many dating from the 1970s high-water mark of trade union power, are discouraging them from taking on new staff and stifling productivity. "We're running the last mile", said Corrado Passera, the banker Monti brought into government in November as industry minister. "An agreement is within reach", he told reporters in remarks that are at odds with signals coming from some unions.

Full article



© Reuters


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