Committee to vote on scrapping vouchers (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, March 16 - The Lower House's labour committee on Thursday is set to vote on abolishing controversial work vouchers used to pay for occasional work, the rapporteur of a bill on the system said. Scrapping the vouchers would avert a May 28 referendum on the system, which is widely being abused. "Today we will vote on the total abolition of the vouchers," said Patrizia Maestri of Premier Paolo Gentiloni's Democratic Party (PD). "There will be a transition period up to December 31, 2017 to make it possible to use the ones already bought. The abolition is an unexpected but positive result. "Let's hope that the government does not bring them back in another form". Unions say the vouchers are being widely abused to pay for long-term and sometimes steady jobs instead of the occasional work they were meant to pay for.
    The use of vouchers has expanded exponentially in recent years after they were first introduced after the turn of the millennium.
    The government is also reportedly weighing changes to contract law to avert a second referendum on May 28, both sponsored by Italy's biggest trade union, the left-wing CGIL.