Taxes, minimum wage, basic income.
At the CGIL congress , the distance between the government and the union on labor policies and reforms, starting with the fiscal one, was clear . The prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, replies point by point to the issues addressed on Wednesday by the secretary general Maurizio Landini in the opening report of the congress.
TAX REFORM - The first issue to end up in the dock is the tax authorities: the premier claims the delegation approved in the Council of Ministers, which instead for Landini should have been withdrawn. Meloni underlines the fact that workers will also benefit from the reform, which will affect above all "low-medium incomes" since it will affect, he assures, "the majority of employees within the first rate". In addition, expenses for "asylum, buses, education" will become "entirely deductible" and there will also be "monetization" of fringe benefits in particular cases such as "the birth of children". Among the novelties is also the increase of the no-tax area for workers (today at 8,174 euros which will be equated to that of pensioners at 8,500 euros), in addition to the flat tax on incremental income also for employees. Landini, on the other hand, rejects all forms of flat tax , which in his opinion go against the principle of progressiveness written into the Constitution , as well as the reduction of tax rates which only helps the highest incomes. He insists on the request for a sharp cut in taxes for employees and pensioners who also pay for those who do not pay them, he repeats: out of 41 million taxpayers, there are over 36 million, almost 90%.
MINIMUM WAGE - Meloni reiterates his no to the minimum wage by law, the solution rather is to extend collective agreements and fight pirated contracts, fight irregular work and move forward on cutting the wedge . For Landini, the question of setting a salary threshold below which he cannot go must be linked to the definition of a law on representation and the general validity of contracts .
CITIZENSHIP INCOME - Meloni reiterates that he believes the measure is "wrong", assuring that he wants to protect those who cannot work, but for those who can, "the solution is to create jobs and place them in training courses, including paid ones". Because, he articulates, "poverty is not abolished by decree". From next year the Rdc will disappear to give way to what could be called Mia, Measure for active inclusion. For the CGIL it had to be improved but not abolished.
UNIVERSAL SOCIAL DAMPER - The dialogue is ready to open on the shock absorbers. Meloni says he "agrees on the principle", Landini's workhorse, "same work, same rights", because "there must be no series A workers and series B workers". Therefore, one of the issues on which "we can try to work together is a system of universal social safety nets that equally protect those who lose their job, be they self-employed, employed or atypical ", explains the premier. Landini has always supported the creation of a new Statute of workers' rights according to which every person who works, with any employment relationship, must have the same rights and the same protections.
(Unioneonline/D)
