Five yeses for decent work: Italy seeks to improve workers' rights and secure the future of young people

Italy's largest trade union, CGIL, which has been active in supporting Ukraine, making payments to Ukrainian refugees and donating generators after Russian shelling, has initiated five referendums on labour and social justice. Although mainly concerned with Italian legislation, other European countries, including Ukraine, are also facing similar problems. CGIL have been giving speeches across the EU and talking about workers' rights and the role of trade unions, labour leakage abroad, tragic lessons from the past, social inequality and precarious employment. At the top of the agenda is a call for democratic participation: only through universal suffrage, union leaders are convinced, can fairness in the labour market be restored.

Workers' rights under threat: why referendums are needed

Luigi Giove, confederal secretary of the CGIL, points out that the Italian Constitution gives citizens a powerful instrument of direct democracy - the referendum. With it, the unions want to repeal the laws of recent years that have curtailed many rights.

"Today we have less freedom in the workplace, less job security and lower wages, but we have the chance to change all this by simply taking part," Jove states, urging Italians to use the tool of democracy and "change reality" through voting.

Now, if the majority say "yes" in referendums, everyone will get "another right, another chance for freedom... an additional opportunity for self-realisation that is not available today".

This referendum proposed by the CGIL is a chance to remind those who want to limit our democracy that the real right to decide still belongs to us, the workers, the Italian people," says Matteo Tuotto, a trade union delegate, at the meeting in Barcelona.

As noted, conservative tendencies are gaining ground in Italy today, threatening to limit the freedoms won. The CGIL referendums are therefore an attempt to legislate the right to decent work.

Lessons from history: from Marcinelle to the present day

Italian trade unions often turn to historical experience to explain the need for change. The CGIL event in Brussels took place at the memorial of Marsinelle, the mine where a terrible accident took place in 1956: 262 miners died, most of them Italian migrants.

Marsinelle teaches us: when a production system is built on exploitation, it brings thousands of deaths," emphasised Antonio Di Franco, secretary of the sectoral union FILLEA CGIL, speaking in Belgium.

According to him, even today in Italy an unhealthy economic model is still flourishing, which generates millions of precariously employed people, some six million poor people, leads to 1,100 workplace deaths per year and an increase in occupational diseases of more than 30 per cent.

Our referendums must give a clear answer: we want a system based on rights and respect for workers," Di Franco said.

Brain drain: young people leave in search of stability

The current instability in the labour market is hitting young people particularly hard. At meetings in European capitals, there was much talk about the "brain drain" - the mass exodus of young Italians abroad. In Paris, dozens of young compatriots who have chosen to live in France came to the meeting.

Many left our country because they were not offered any job or career security in their home country," said Lara Guilone, confederal secretary of the CGIL, addressing the diaspora. - Of course, it is great to be young and live in Paris, but only when it is your own choice and not a step of desperation caused by the fact that at home you can't find a permanent job, get a loan or buy a house.

According to her, coming to live in Paris should be a real choice, not a forced decision due to the lack of a labour market that provides stability and guarantees.

Historian Alessandro Giacone reminded that a country's competitiveness depends not only on business conditions, but also on opportunities for workers.

We spend huge amounts of money on educating young people in Italy. However, too often well-educated young people leave and apply their knowledge abroad. At home they are offered a job in a restaurant for 600 euros a month, whereas in Paris it is a minimum of 1,400 euros for the same 35-hour week. No wonder more and more Italians are leaving: in the end, the country loses the most promising professionals, having paid for their training, while the benefits accrue to neighbouring states," Giacone concludes.

According to CGIL, at least 600,000 Italians have left abroad in the last decade. Antonio Grasso, a young Italian living in Brussels for nine years, compared his experience to the story of post-war Italian migrant miners.

For the Europe of those years, a worker's life was not worth more than a lump of coal. But what kind of Europe do we live in today? Does it guarantee the social rights that were proclaimed after the Marcinella tragedy? Apparently not," concludes the emigrant.

Europe is changing: rights, reforms and citizenship for the descendants of migrants

Italy's problems are not unique - the entire European continent faces rising inequality and precarious employment. However, there are also examples of successful change. The Spanish experience is particularly often cited by Italian trade unionists.

Some of the provisions of our referendums are reminiscent of the reform that Spain implemented in 2021," said Matteo Tuotto. - That reform limited the practice of temporary contracts, which led to an unprecedented increase in employment and reduced unemployment to record lows.

The Spanish example is inspiring: if the legislators managed to turn the situation in favour of workers there, it means that in Italy it is possible to reduce the share of the precariat - people who are insecure about the future.

Another important aspect of change is inclusiveness, the rights of migrants and diaspora. Historically, Italy has been a country of both emigration and immigration, but legislation has sometimes failed to keep up with realities. Spain, for example, has recently made it easier for children of migrants to obtain citizenship. Italy, too, is making steps forward. Parliament recently reduced the required period of residence for citizenship from 10 to 5 years. However, according to Javier Bonomi, head of the Federation of Latin American Associations in Catalonia, this is not enough: descendants of Italian immigrants still face an unfair barrier to citizenship in their historic homeland.

Knowing Italian is important, but there are other aspects of Italian identity that need to be taken into account," Bonomi emphasised. - Access to citizenship is a fundamental right for descendants of Italians. A large part of our people was, is and will be a people of migrants, so the issue of citizenship is extremely important.

Trade unionists emphasise that working conditions are closely linked to citizenship rights and equality of opportunity.

Democracy in action: five votes for the future of labour

CGIL's initiative with five referendums is the biggest attempt in recent years to turn the tide in Italy's labour market. The referendums are designed to fulfil a number of specific objectives:

• curb the abuse of temporary contracts and low-paid "part-time" jobs;

• to bring back strong safeguards against illegal dismissals;

• improve workplace safety;

• protect the social rights of the most vulnerable;

• simplify citizenship for children of immigrants and descendants of Italian emigrants.

Each of these proposals alone has the potential to change the lives of millions of people. Together, the five "yeses" of the Italian people could mark a turn towards a new model of development that is fairer, more humane and more stable.

The unions emphasise that their aim is not to divide society, but rather to unite it around common values.

In the past, thanks to referendums, Italy made a huge step forward in winning social rights - just remember the legalisation of divorce and abortion in the 1970s," recalls lawyer Maria Luisa D'Addabbo.

Now it is time for a new leap. CGIL's campaign has received widespread public response and support abroad. In France, Belgium and Spain, the Italian diaspora, together with local trade unions and left-wing parties, formed committees in support of the referendums. The struggle for decent labour thus transcends national borders.

In the run-up to polling day, the slogan of the campaign is "Five times yes". The activists are convinced that by saying "yes" in each of the five referendums, citizens will open the way to a better future.

By using democracy, we can change reality," says Luigi Giove.

It is now up to the people to decide what work and life will be like in the Italy of tomorrow.

Why it is important for Ukraine

Over 6 million Ukrainians are currently in European countries . The Ukrainian government lists the return of its citizens as one of its top priorities. However, one of the important obstacles on this path, apart from the issue of security, is the lack of jobs with adequate pay and working conditions. It is indicative that while in the early years of the war wealthier citizens left their homeland, now less well-off Ukrainians who find it difficult to make ends meet at home are deciding to migrate.

The issue of decent labour is also acute for Ukrainians who have left their homeland and are in the EU. About half of them have found work in the host country. However, these are often precarious and low-paid jobs. Ukrainian refugees find that they have only been offered low-skilled jobs that do not match their experience and education. It is also often necessary to undergo lengthy local certification or diploma validation for highly skilled occupations. Due to this lack of inclusiveness and labour rights protection, as described by CGIL, the material situation of Ukrainian refugees in Europe cannot on average be called prosperous.