Vouchers for babysitters for civil
servants, working from home, and more flexible office hours are
among proposals in a draft bill to reform Italy's public
administration.
The proposals, which Civil Service Minister Marianna Madia
presented to unions on Thursday, are designed to improve
"work-life balance".
Madia urged unions to accept change and not resist the
reforms, which will be launched Friday by cabinet ministers.
In April, Premier Matteo Renzi rolled out the reform
package, promising "radical change" that will streamline
agencies and create jobs for as many as 10,000 young people.
He said at the time that no layoffs were being considered.
But holding older workers to the term limits of their
contracts is something his government is willing to enforce,
Renzi said.
Under the package, protections that allow workers above the
retirement age to stay on will be repealed, he said.
That alone will "make room to bring in 10,000 young
people", Renzi said in April.
The reforms "represent a clear staff project" Madia said.
Rossana Dettori, of the public administration arm of the
trade union CGIL, Italy's largest union, said after the meeting
that members were told there would be "no redundancies" and no
early retirements.
Michele Gentile, also with the public administration arm of
the CGIL, said the union would wait to see the full text of the
reform plans before considering whether strike action would be
needed.
Gentile added that unions "expected something more" from
the meeting with Madia.
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