Premier Matteo Renzi on
Thursday blasted the decision by two of Italy's big three union
confederations, the CGIL and UIL, to call a general strike on
December 12 against the government's Jobs Act labour reform and
its 2015 budget bill, which labor argues does not allocate
enough money for welfare and unemployment in continued hard
times.
"I don't concern myself with getting people to strike, but I
do with getting them jobs," Renzi told RTL 102.5 radio station.
"Instead of spending my time thinking up reasons to strike,
I worry about creating jobs, because there's still lots to do".
Strikes and protests, said the the premier, will not stop
his government reforming Italy.
"The country is split in two, between those who are
resigned and those who keep moving forward," Renzi said.
"But those in Italy who are standing firm are getting
results. I'm not worried. We promised we will change Italy and
it will, whether or not they take to the streets".
The premier later in the day headed to a meeting with local
mayors in the north-central city of Parma, where police clashed
with leftist grassroots movement demonstrators gathered at city
hall to protest his labor and economic policies.
Much like the unions, these movements say Renzi's reforms -
including his Jobs Act labor bill, which goes to the Lower
House floor Friday, and his Unblock Italy decree for massive
public works - will not create employment but merely
disenfranchise workers while providing unscrupulous companies
with more opportunities to abuse Italy's fragile environment.
Unperturbed, the young premier arrived in Parma to reassure
his audience that recession-ridden Italy has stopped losing jobs
at last.
"We lost 937,000 jobs in six years," Renzi said. "That
hemorrhage has been interrupted in the past few months, indeed
the curve is growing again but it's not enough. Jobs remain our
priority".
Renzi spoke soon after the Lower House labour committee
gave its final approval to an enabling bill linked to his
signature Jobs Act - which means the bill goes to the House
floor Friday. This was good news for the premier, who wants the
reform in place by January 1 to encourage firms to take on staff
and help combat record levels of unemployment.
Unions, however, were not happy with Renzi's criticisms of
them, which he proffered even while reiterating his belief in
the importance of upholding "the Constitutional right to
strike".
CGIL labor federation chief Susanna Camusso was quick to
reply to Renzi's remarks."When the premier says workers strike
so union leaders can find a way to pass the time, I believe he
is being disrespectful towards labor and the sacrifices workers
make," Camusso said.
"We know what it means to ask workers to make extra
sacrifices, and we know things are not going well," she added.
"We would like to live in a country in which things are
going well, and in which labor is recognized as an asset".
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