- Title: ITALY-STRIKE/ UPDATE Italians protest against government labour reforms
- Date: 14th November 2014
- Summary: ROME, ITALY (NOVEMBER 14, 2014) (REUTERS) PROTESTERS GATHERED IN CENTRAL FOUNTAIN SQUARE WAVING UNION FLAGS (AUDIO OF DRUMS) UNION FLAGS (AUDIO OF DRUMS) CROWD OF PROTESTERS HOLDING LARGE WHITE BANNER PROTESTERS VARIOUS OF POLICE OFFICERS MONITORING PROTEST PROTESTERS HOLDING BANNER AND CHANTING SLOGANS PROTESTER TRUCK DRIVING AMONG CROWD PROTESTERS HOLDING BANNER SAYING (Italian): 'The people are not afraid. The people are feared.'' (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ITALIAN PROTESTER, VICTORIA STINNI, SAYING: "We are here today to demonstrate against Renzi's reform, the Jobs Act, expected to go ahead, which also contains a school reform. We do not accept what this reform proposes, we don't accept the extreme flexibility of workers, which could be extended to nine years, preventing people from achieving economic stability. Consequently nothing will improve, it is will only get worse. So we are against it.'" (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) PROTESTER, ROBERTO CAMPAELLA, SAYING: "This reform cannot be passed on until they really listen to the students and the precarious workers of this country that are protesting today and will continue to do so. The answers given by the government so far have been insufficient and wrong. They are continuing to follow previous governments and go against this generation, who is paying the price of the crisis." CROWDS OF PROTESTERS WITH RED FLARES VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS HOLDING FLARES OUTSIDE THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE / JOURNALISTS (AUDIO OF FIRE-CRACKERS EXPLODING) STATUE SURROUNDED BY SMOKE PROTESTERS CHANTING SLOGANS AMONG SMOKE VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS HOLDING BANNERS (AUDIO OF DRUMS) FLAG VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS PLAYING DRUMS AND DANCING FLAGS POLICE WALKING IN FRONT OF POLICE VEHICLES POLICE VEHICLES DRIVING ON STREET
- Embargoed: 29th November 2014 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Italy
- Country: Italy
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAD0E6BJGKN948C8GWUHF4GY4W4
- Story Text: Italian public workers and students went on strike on Friday (November 14) and staged protests all over Italy as unions stepped up their resistance to a government labour reform set by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
The strikes planned by nation-wide unions came as Renzi's government prepared to push new legislation through parliament by the end of the year.
The unions, whose crumbling power base is heavily dependent on the public service and a declining number of large industrial employers, have fiercely resisted the changes, believing the rights of workers would be undermined.
In a deliberate attack on one of the central pillars of the Italian left, Renzi pledged to scrap rules which offer workers in companies with more than 15 employees the right to win their jobs back in cases of unjustified dismissal.
As well as discouraging foreign employers, the Italian Prime Minister said the rules, which only apply to employees on full contracts, discriminate against the growing number of workers on vulnerable short-term contracts.
Students marched alongside protesting workers in Rome, with flares lighting the sky, and firecrackers and eggs being thrown outside the German embassy and of the Ministry of Finances.
One protester said the proposed reform would only lead to more problems rather than a solution.
"We are here today to demonstrate against Renzi's reform, the Jobs Act, expected to go ahead, which also contains a school reform. We do not accept what this reform proposes, we don't accept the extreme flexibility of workers, which could be extended to nine years, preventing people from achieving economic stability," said Victoria Stinni.
Job protection legislation, centred on Article 18 of the labour statute, is the most sensitive part of a wider shake up of employment law promised when Renzi took office in February.
Another protester said he felt the government had not given a satisfactory explanation for the planned reform, which he said would damage young generations across the country.
"This reform cannot be passed on until they really listen to the students and the precarious workers of this country that are protesting today and will continue to do so. The answers given by the government so far have been insufficient and wrong. They are continuing to follow previous governments and go against this generation, who is paying the price of the crisis," Roberto Campealla said.
As well as enraging unions nation-wide, the reform is said to have caused deep unease among members of the Democratic Party, Renzi's centre-left party leading to a debate over the actual impact of the rules.
The reform, currently making its way through parliament, would allow workers laid off for justifiable business reasons to receive a financial payoff, but they would have no right to reinstatement.
Under provisions agreed by Renzi's party on Thursday (November 13), however, they would allow courts to order a company to reinstate workers ruled to have been wrongfully dismissed for disciplinary reasons.
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