U-turn on the crackdown on underpaid workers: the measure, together with four others, will be removed from the maxi-amendment to the budget. The choice comes at the end of a long day in the Senate and after multiple discussions within the government, with the majority and also with the opposition.
During the meeting of the Budget Commission of Palazzo Madama, with the Minister of Relations with Parliament Luca Ciriani and the groups, it was also decided to remove the rule on revolving doors in the public administration: the measure would have reduced from three to one year the time to be able to hold a managerial role in the private sector after a top position in the PA in the same sector.
And there was also nothing to be done about the measure which provided, conversely, that it was possible, for extraordinary or temporary commissioner positions, to derogate from the ban on holding roles in the public administration after having held positions in bodies governed by private law or financed by the administration itself. The issue of the spoils system for the Authorities remains, a rule which – according to what is reported by parliamentary sources – would not be viewed favorably even by Colle.
However, the rule which provides that an appeal before a judge is no longer sufficient to have arrears recognized and end up in the sights of the opposition has been discarded. “Unconstitutional, shameful, cowardly”, the declarations of the opposition leaders.
Yet another “attack” on workers’ rights for the CGIL. A measure that certainly causes discussion but which does not change the point of view of the Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti: he has no difficulty in recognizing the “tortuous path” of the Budget law but “the important thing is to get to the top, there is no other way”, he says speaking at Palazzo Madama.
Hence the satisfaction and not only for the 2026 budget but for all the work done, which he claims and defends in the Chamber before the senators: “Our prudence is not at all stagnant and the governments of the future will benefit from our prudence, including – he glosses addressing the opposition – yours”.
Perhaps all this will not go down in history, he says, but “thanks to this type of policy, Italy presents itself with its head held high in Europe and in the world.” The interventions on workers, the tax on parcels, the push for supplementary pensions: the owner of the Treasury explains the reasons for the choices made, which are often – according to his reading – dictated by foresight. And if it is true that the balance in Parliament and between Parliament and government has changed, it is also true that other large European countries show that they are unable to approve their respective budgets.
Italy, however, does it. Or, rather, it’s about to. Of course, the minister recognizes some critical issues such as those affecting institutional architecture: “there is a unicameral system that we have seen for several years: this should question all of us on how parliamentary democracies should update themselves to keep up with the times”, he observes. Words that come after heated tones and great distances highlighted not only by the parties opposing the government but also within the majority.
Which in the hectic days at Palazzo Madama – where the maneuver is about to be approved – have seen a coming and going of measures and numerous rewrites, starting with pensions. Then of course there were also battles shared between the allied parties at the helm of the country, such as those that aimed to strengthen the scope of interventions on housing and schools.
And precisely among the most unexpected news in the final sprint, the majority has, for example, found the agreement and the resources to increase the cadastral value of the first home for ISEE purposes up to 200 thousand euros. With the opposition, as is largely normal, not even the shadow of an agreement.
Until the end, the Democratic Party stigmatizes the slowness of the Treasury, first in the commission and then in the Chamber: less than 24 hours from the final vote complete with confidence in the Senate – highlights the Dem group leader Francesco Boccia – there is no trace of the maxi-amendment.
And then there is the merit. The “blitz that reintroduces wild hunting” has also caused controversy in the last few hours. However, the opposition is focusing the spotlight in particular on the crackdown on workers which had already been “thwarted” a few months ago thanks to a “summer battle”.
For Giuseppe Conte it is therefore clear that the government, this time, has, at the same time, “exploited the favor of darkness” and internal arguments within the majority in order to pass it. Thus, once again «the judiciary which requires compliance with Article 36 of the Constitution ends up under attack. That is, the wages of those who work must be fair and dignified. It’s a real coup”, Schlein’s words.
To date, the union explains, if a worker wins an appeal before the judge he is entitled to the recognition of all salary credits accrued before the presentation of the appeal and the company has the duty to pay the differences. The change desired by the executive will not be introduced in the budget. The formalization will arrive in the morning with the Budget Commission’s vote in favor of the cancellation. Then the text, in its entirety, will finally be examined by the House.