By Silvia Marchetti
ROME (MaceNews) – Italy’s parliament is working on a deal to clear as soon as possible a law introducing a minimum wage for all workers following a push by the European Union to implement a minimum wage framework to be applied in all 27 member states, according to ruling coalition sources.
“Parties are still at odds, but we can’t afford to lose any more time,” said an official, adding, “a piece of legislation has been sitting in parliament for four years, and we need to hone it through dialogue with trade unions and industrial lobbies.
“We only have two years to fully implement such EU-wide minimum wage requirement,” the official said, adding that it was “preposterous” that the EU’s third-largest economy still lacked a minimum wage, the only founding EU member state to lack one.
On Monday evening, European institutions approved an EU-wide framework that binds member states to adopt a minimum wage, calibrating it based on their labour market and national job contracts.
“The next step is an EU directive, which we all know must be incorporated within member states’ national legislation within a tight timeframe of just two years, through a specific decree that must have the support of all parties sitting in parliament, and also the approval from trade unions,” said a Democrat deputy.
Sources said party talks were focusing on defining a law envisaging a potential minimum wage corresponding to between 50 and 60 percent of average salaries, now roughly 9.5 euros per hour. The goal is to tie the minimum wage to inflation or to a set of daily goods purchased by families that track purchasing power.
Italy would still lag behind the EU target to reach an EU-wide minimum wage of between 70 and 80 percent of average salaries.
In the EU, the minimum wage varies from monthly 330 euros in Bulgaria to a high of 2,000 euros in Belgium, while Germany just recently adopted it at roughly 1,200 euros. Most countries have set it at around 1,000 euros per month. The EU directive harmonized rules to define a minimum wage, which must take into account the purchasing power and inflation in each member state, and existing job contracts.
The trouble with the Italian labor market, argued one 5 Star Movement official, is that there are over 600 different types of job contracts depending on sector, category, and profession, each with some sort of wage band, but not including freelance, part-time, occasional, and seasonal workers. The minimum wage plan would fill this gap.
While the Democrats and the 5 Stars Movement are pressing for a speedy implementation of a minimum wage in Italy, center-right groups included in the ruling majority, including Forza Italia of former premier Silvio Berlusconi, have voiced concerns that it could distort the labor market.
Trade unions and industrial lobbies, which have so far been key players in setting wages and benefits for workers, are also skeptical it would have positive effects, particularly if the minimum wage is excessively linked to inflation and constantly adjusted, or if it is too low, thus discouraging people from working.
“Another big issue in Italy right now is the trouble in finding seasonal workers, particularly for this year’s summer tourism season. Occasional jobs are precarious and young people just think it’s not worth working a few weeks per year for some 5 euros an hour. This is something a minimum wage could help improve,” said a Democrat source.
According to recent data, roughly 4.6 million Italian workers are paid below 8 euros per hour, and most lack benefits, extra paid hours, paid holidays, and annual leave.