Changing Article 18 of the 1970
Workers Statute is a far-reaching reform and it will attract
investors, Premier Matteo Renzi said in London Thursday.
Article 18 says unfairly dismissed workers have a right to
be reinstated.
Renzi's reform would scale it back for new hires in an
effort to stimulate job creation, and is opposed by a minority
within the premier's Democratic Party (PD) and by Italy's
biggest and most leftwing trade union federation, the CGIL.
"The measure on Article 18 is a far-reaching labour market
reform that will be much appreciated by investors," Renzi said
in the British capital, where he is updating Prime Minister
David Cameron as well as financial investors on Italian
government reforms.
"This is not an ideological battle," he added.
"Those who think it's a half-hearted reform have not been
listening to the PD executive, or have not read our text".
His labour bill, or Jobs Act, recently came under fire from
the right due to a new measure on Article 18, which was included
after a showdown between Renzi and a dissenting minority within
his party on Monday.
Initially, the Jobs Act said that Article 18 would remain
in force for people already in jobs and would only apply to new
hires in cases of discrimination.
But the document approved by the PD on Monday said that the
guarantee should also apply in cases when a newly hired worker
is dismissed on disciplinary grounds that a court rules are
unfounded.
Back in Rome, the government is still weighing whether or
not to file an amendment or a motion to its Jobs Act containing
the new measure before it goes to the Senate next week.
Labour Minister Giuliano Poletti said that the issue is
"purely political, because the way the norm is written, it
already allows us to do what we want to do".
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