From Comitato Aziendale Europeo e Relazioni Internazionali;
Politica aziendale e risultati economici;
Documents in English
6th IWIS Conference Sindelfingen
November 1992
6th IWIS Conference Sindelfingen, November 1992
Country Presentation
Italy
1) POLITICAL AND ECONOMICAL SITUATION
In 1992 the Italian Government has been formed by Christian
Democrats, Socialists and Liberal party.
The Prime Minister is the Socialist Giuliano Amato.
This Government was formed after the crisis that occurred to
a same coalition of political parties with the leadership of
the Christian Democrat Giulio Andreotti.
In July 1992 the Italian Unions (CGIL-CISL-UIL) signed an
agreement with the Government and with the Employers Associa-
tions: as a consequence of this agreement the Public Pension
and the Public Health Systems have worsened for all workers,
and the automatic increase of salaries connected with the
increase of the cost of living was definitely abandoned.
Bargaining at company level was blocked until January 1994.
Many workers and Work Councils declare themselves in disagree
ment with the Unions because, in the end, the purchasing
power of wages and salaries will significantly decrease.
In September 1992 the Italian Lira was depreciated against
the other currencies of about 12-15%.
In October 1992 the Government introduced further restric-
tions and changes, not discussed during the July negotiations
worsening once more the living conditions of workers.
Amato's Government is quite oriented, like the previous one,
to transform the public companies into private ones.
In 1991 the members of the Unions were 10,538,317 :
5,221,791 (49.55%) in CGIL
3,657,116 (34.70%) in CISL
1,659,410 (15.75%) in UIL
In July 1992 the unemployed people ( 2.7 million, 58% women)
represented 11.1% of the working population (24.3 million
people, 35% women) and they were and still are concentrated,
for the most part, in Southern Italy. A significant part of
the unemployment (over 50%) is represented by young people
looking for their first work activity.
The working population represents 42.5% of the total popula-
tion (over 57 million inhabitants).
The inflation rate is 5.1% in October 1992.
2) IBM IN ITALY IN 1991
Here following the results achieve by IBM SEMEA in 1991;
REVENUE total 6875 million US $
from Italy 3529 "
from export 2789 "
from international 557 "
PROFIT 208 "
INVESTMENTS 474 "
The mean inflation rate in Italy in 1991 was 6.5%
At the end of 1991, 14082 people were working in IBM Italy,
of which about 3000 in the production plants (in Vimercate,
near Milan, and in Santa Palomba, near Rome).
There were about 600 employees working in the Network System
Laboratory in Rome.
The Scientific Centre of Pisa has been closed, after a 25
years of activity, with a great negative impact on the
University and Academic environment, being Pisa one of the
prominent Italian Universities.
Several peripheral locations have been closed, and others
will be closed next year, and the workers concentrated in
bigger locations 50 to 100 kilometres far away, and as a
consequence many workers resigned.
Individual (not official) plans to leave the Company were
formulated, offering 24 month salary as a mean amount of
money.
During 1991 720 people resigned, and 212 people were
employed. The women represented 23% of the workers. At the
end of August 1992, 383 people were working with a part time
contract and the most part of them are women (291).
As far as personnel expenses were concerned,IBM in Italy
spent the following sums during 1991 :
Wages and salaries 1245 million US $
Integrative Pension Plan 11 "
Accident Insurance Plan 5 "
Medical Insurance Plan 7 "
3) UNION ACTIVITY IN IBM ITALY
As inside of IBM Italy the trend towards a more rigorous
restriction of expenses goes on, the standards are decreasing
in every department.
The Company focus its attention to restrict and sometimes
block merit salary,increasing only high professional workers
wages, and to decrease employment.
IBM Corporation defines the global target in employment
decrease (40,000 in 1992) and, in Italy, as in all other
countries, a partial target is assigned (750 in 1992): all
kinds of pressures are used on workers and on managers to
persuade them to leave IBM (bonuses from 18 up to 24 monthly
wage are always offered).
Another way to decrease employment is to "spin off" activi-
ties : about 300 workers from Logistic and Distribution
sectors of IBM SEMEA were conferred to new enterprises owned
the first one partially ( as a minority partner), the second
one totally by IBM SEMEA.
As far as spin offs are concerned, Unions struggled to
realise employment guarantees for the future: as you know we
signed agreements with IBM in both occasions.
As far as the health of the unions inside of IBM Italy is
concerned, the situation is not particularly brilliant.
The union members are about 1100 (8.9% of the workers) and
the union executives not more than 60.
Recently, because of IBM programs on employment and merit
salary, workers are more sensitive about union activity and
strategy and, particularly on the occasion of the spin offs,
we experienced the active participation of the most part of
the workers participation: during the strikes in the
Distribution Centre in Basiano, up to 80% of the workers were
picketing the location along with the Union Executives.
It is nevertheless more and more difficult to have new union
executives and to be present in many branch offices and
locations.
4) EMPLOYMENT
In I.B.M. Italy there are about 13.500 workers that operate
in many towns and countries; 3000 workers are concentrated in
the plants of Vimercate (near Milan) and Santa Palomba (near
Rome),4000 in Milan and 2700 in Rome.
The following table shows the evolution of IBM population in
Italy since 1979 and the distribution between manufacturing
and no-manufacturing workers.
* Year * Total * No * Manufact. * % Manuf *
* * Workers * Manufact. * Workers * Workers *
* * * Workers * * on Tot.*
*************************************************************
* 1979 * 11097 * 8043 * 3054 * 27.52 *
* 1980 * 11722 * 8458 * 3264 * 27.84 *
* 1981 * 12347 * 8966 * 3381 * 27.38 *
* 1982 * 12645 * 9014 * 3631 * 28.71 *
* 1983 * 12649 * 8948 * 3701 * 29.25 *
* 1984 * 12690 * 9051 * 3639 * 28.67 *
* 1985 * 13236 * 9532 * 3704 * 27.98 *
* 1986 * 13488 * 9841 * 3647 * 27.03 *
* 1987 * 13565 * 9957 * 3608 * 26.59 *
* 1988 * 13809 * 10306 * 3503 * 25.36 *
* 1989 * 14228 * 10860 * 3368 * 23.67 *
* 1990 * 14802 * 11755 * 3047 * 20.58 *
* 1991 * 14082 * 10933 * 3149 * 22.36 *
*************************************************************
From the table we can immediately perceive that manufacturing
workers reached their maximum in 1983 (over 29%) and that in
the following years the trend continues to be negative for a
long period, becoming once again positive in 1991.
The trend of total employment in IBM Italy is negative like
in other countries, and it is expected to continue this trend
in 1992 and in 1993.
IBM Italy workers, being metalmechanicals workers, are
divided in 7 categories according to the type of activity
they perform.
Workers are divided in workmen and employees, and at present
IBM Italy situation in December 1991 was the following:
WORKMEN EMPLOYEES TOP MANAGERS
2.74% 82.28% 14.98%
Another division is between exempt and not exempt workers,
whose percentages in December 1991 were the following :
NOT EXEMPT EXEMPT
25.17% 74.83%
Women represent about 23% of total workers.
There are also part time workers, that generally work 4 hours
a day, five days a week.
In the last months IBM is very favourable to grant part time
contracts (it was not so in the past) as they see part time
contracts as a way to reduce employment.
In August 1992 there were in IBM Italy 383 workers on part
time contracts (3% of total workers), women being the great
majority (76%):
category * WOMEN *MEN * TOTAL
*************************************************************
3 * 0 * 1 * 1
* * *
4 * 6 * 2 * 8
* * *
5 * 199 * 77 * 276
* * *
6 * 81 * 4 * 85
* * *
7 * 5 * 8 * 13
*************************************************************
TOTAL * 291 * 92 * 383
*************************************************************
Most cases of part time contracts come from full time ones
(40 hours divided in five days per week).
The exceptions are:
- 20 hours a week part-time divided in 3 days (Thursday, Fri-
day and Saturday); in this case we have new hired people,
Customer Engineers involved in installations;
- 30 hours a week part time divided in 5 days
In addition IBM in Italy use temporary contracts formally de-
voted to professional education training for a maximum period
of 2 years. This labour condition is a consequence of an
agreement between the National Union and National Employers
Associations which provide that, two years passed, Employers
may confirm or not this temporary contracts; these contracts
have many fiscal facility from Government.
There are also seasonal contracts lasting 3 or 6 months :
they are present particularly in plants.
Wages in IBM are composed by two parts:
- salary determined by agreement between Metalmechanicals
Unions and National Employers Associations and also between
IBM Union and IBM Italy;
- merit salary completely controlled by IBM.
Merit salary accounts, in the average,for 30% of total wages.
About merit salary let us say that the trend is quite negati-
ve; IBM in Italy continue to reduce salary budget and so the
time between merit salary increases is going to become the
largest as possible.
IBM in Italy, as already stated, the "must" is: reduce the
expenses and cut the costs. The Company achieves this by
reducing wages budgets, employees number, locations, cafete-
ra budgets.
Quality of life in IBM is rapidly decreasing.
A particular attention is devoted to low performers, who are
maintained under a continuous pressure, in order to convince
them to leave the company.
As stated by a new law, called "Parity Law", IBM must give
detailed information to the Unions about women presence in
the company for each location, both from quantitative and
qualitative point of views.
5) WORKING CONDITIONS
Metalmechanicals National Contract determines working condi-
tions.
Working hours are 40 divided in 5 days per week (8 hours per
day) for all workers except part-time workers (20 hours) and
top management.
Working hour reduction was achieved by National Contracts,
and the reduction of 64 hours per year (80 hours from 1994)
are used in IBM basically as 8 supplementary holidays.
Overtime work is allowed but cannot exceed 150 hours per year
and it is not allowed on Sunday with some exceptions stated
by law (like in case of public services) or by IBM Union
agreements (like in the case of Customer Engineers).
IBM Union must be informed in advance of overtime necessities
and afterwards with detailed reports.
We really control overtime only in the not exempt area, becau
se they must register on a card initial and final working
hours; consequently IBM in Italy gives consolidated informa-
tion about overtime hours just for not exempt workers and de-
clares formally not to ask overtime to exempt workers, though
the real situation is wildly different.
PERCENTAGE OVERTIME INCREASE SALARY
*************************************************
OVERTIME UP TO 8 HOURS IN A WEEK * 45% *
OVERTIME FROM 9th HOUR IN A WEEK * 35% *
*************************************************
As far as shift is concerned, working hours are 37.5 and,
following an agreement between IBM Union and IBM Italy,
percentage increase is 12% for day shift work and 35% for
night shift work (for working hours after 7 p.m.).
There are finally 3 important agreements about night overti-
me, Sunday overtime and Saturday overtime:
1 - night overtime between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. with percentage
salary increase of 165% and the workers must have a not
paid absence for as many as overtime hours;
2 - Sunday work is allowed in C.E. area at this conditions:
daily hours ----------------> 65% percentage increase
night hours ----------------> 80% percentage increase
planning activity ----------> 3 hours bonus
not planning activity ------> 6 hours bonus;
Sunday C.E. workers must have paid absence for an half
day if working hours are up to 4, one day if working
hours are up to 8 and so on;
3 - Saturday work has 65% salary increase and the workers
must have a paid absence for half of the hours they
worked; these hours of paid absence can be gathered and
used all together in the next 3 months.
In the following table the evolution of overtime for not
exempt in the last years in Milano, Segrate e Basiano is
shown :
YEAR* TOT OVT. * NIGHT OVT * SUNDAY C.E.
* * made absence diff. * made absence
*************************************************************
'80 * 103855.50 * 3367.05 2472.60 - 895.05 *
'81 * 122231.25 * 3404.75 2549.33 - 855.42 *
'82 * 118692.00 * 3381.21 2871.45 - 509.80 *
'83 * 114815.50 * 4249.75 2818.83 -1430.92 *
'84 * 112288.00 * 3369.25 2879.53 - 489.72 *
'85 * 116872.00 * 2877.89 2271.89 - 606.00 * 404.75 424.00
'86 * 113852.25 * 2271.79 2132.25 - 139.44 * 752.50 880.00
'87 * 108104.10 * 2503.25 2104.88 - 398.37 * 1434.00 1740.00
'88 * 96725.25 * 2330.50 2029.47 - 301.03 * 1178.00 1452.00
'89 * 97752.50 * 2915.55 2449.34 - 466.21 * 1880.00 2068.00
'90 * 98338.25 * 2878.75 2702.70 - 176.05 * 2219.00 2536.00
'91 * 112615.06 * 2603.67 2315.12 - 288.55 * 1935.50 2240.00
*************************************************************
Thanks to the agreements effective working hours in IBM are
near 40, but this the true only for not exempt workers,which
represent only 25% of the entire population.
No formal control is made on exempt workers, and they are not
paid in any way for their overtime work, which is not due.
To conclude about working hours subject we want to speak
about agreements on the occasion of collective transfers.
The most important was in 1975 from Milan to Segrate (12 km.
from each other): IBM Union stipulated an agreement with
IBM Italy that provides a reduction of one hour and an half
of working hours and a reduction of the lunch interval from
60 to 45 minutes. This agreement was extended also to Rome-
EUR where working hours have a weekly reduction of one hour
and 15 minutes and, later, to Basiano (25 km. from Milan)
where the reduction is the same of Segrate.
Health has always been a very important subject for Unions
and for IBM Union.
During last years we paid much attention to the problems of
workers that use Video Display Terminals.
First there was a consultation of the workers on defining de-
mands and this has been done by means of a questionnaire and
of meetings.
After a phase of struggle we reached that, every two years,an
ophthalmology and ophthalmologist equip is at worker disposal
in IBM locations for visits; when the diagnosis is that
special lenses are necessary for using Video Display
Terminal, IBM must refund all expenses for the new glasses.
Talking about health, we would also like to recall that an
agreement between IBM Union and the Company provided a
Medical Insurance Fund used to integrate Public Health System
(to which IBM must contribute) and that, on the consequence
of Italian laws, employers must hire a certain percentage of
handicapped people.
6) LIBERTIES
National_Union_Rights:
workers meetings :10 hours per year,paid,for each
worker,during working hours and
with no limit out of working
hours;
in any case the employer must pro
vide the room for meeting;
Union bulletin boards :at least one board for each loca-
tion;
Union offices :if there are more than 200 wor-
kers in a location, the employer
must provide an office fully
equipped for the Union activity;
if the workers are less than 200
the room must be provided tempora
rely by request;
paid leaves :for Union executives 1 day per
month; not paid leaves can reach
8 days per year;
check off :that is how all Union Members pay
their contributions;
transfer of Union executives:it cannot take place if the
Union does not agree.
IBM Union rights:
(in addition to National Union rights)
Before 1969, the Union representatives in the company were
appointed by the three National Unions CGIL, CISL and UIL.
After 1969 in every location the "Consigli di Fabbrica" appe-
ar and they are elected by all workers, member of not of the
Unions. The biggest Consigli di Fabbrica are in Milan with
60 branch executives, Vimercate with 50,Rome with 30 and in
Santa Palomba with 9; in the small locations there may be at
least 3 branch executives.
The maximum numbers of hours of paid leave for branch executi
ves in order to accomplish their mission is annually:
10500 hours for Milan (about 4000 workers)
8500 hours for Vimercate ( " 2900 " )
3500 hours for Rome ( " 2700 " )
3000 hours for Santa Palomba ( " 550 " )
6500 hours for other locations( " 3000 " )
Every single branch executive cannot use more than 24 hours
of paid leave per month, except in case of Union courses, se-
minars, meetings, etc.
There is also a National Committee composed by members elec-
ted by each "Consiglio di Fabbrica", in proportion to the num
ber of workers they represent.
Anytime IBM Italy wants to speak to or bargain with the Na-
tional Committee and, if it is available and advisable,all
expenses to convoke the members in Milan (where meetings with
IBM take place) are paid by the company.
On April the 23rd 1991 an agreement with IBM stated that the
Company will pay all expenses about 6 members that participa-
te at 4 meeting per year; these members can use 2 days for
each of these 4 meetings.
Individual_rights.
The great part of this rights are provided by a very impor-
tant law:"STATUTO DEI DIRITTI DEI LAVORATORI" (Workers Rights
Statement).
Also on the consequence of this law any kind of investigati-
ons, in the engagement phase too, on political, religion and
Trade Unions opinions of workers is prohibited; there is com-
plete freedom to express one's own opinions at work; it is
prohibited to have a remote control of the workers activity
(for example by installing cameras in the work places or by
locating individual users accessing procedures and data
bases); dismissals can take place only for a correct reason.
About transfers: agreement on June 1974 states that if the
worker agrees with IBM on the transfer, the transfer will
take place, otherwise not.
About badge areas: agreement of 1983 provides that the defini
tion of these areas must be negotiated with IBM Union and
that in these areas group badges (and not personal badges)
must be used.
About data bases accesses: the agreement states that informa-
tion about users cannot be accessed without approval by the
IBM Unions for each single case.