Italian government and opposition far from agreement on minimum wage

The Italian government and the main opposition parties met this Friday afternoon in Rome to discuss the possible introduction of a minimum wage in Italy, but the meeting ended without rapprochement.

At the end of the meeting at the Chigi Palace, the seat of the Italian government, which lasted about two hours, there were no public statements from the participants, but several party sources told the Italian press that “basically everyone stuck to their positions.”

Opposition parties are in favor of setting a minimum wage of 9 euros an hour, but Georgia chief executive Meloni opposes it.

Opposition party sources indicated that the head of government had previously invited various opposition parties to work together with the social partners on a bill aimed at “full application” of an article of the Italian Constitution that establishes that “the worker is entitled to remuneration.” proportionate to the quantity and quality of his work and, in any case, sufficient to provide him and his family with a free and dignified existence.

According to the same sources, the Prime Minister stressed that there are now 60 days to try to reach a platform of understanding.

The parliamentary majority, backing Meloni’s coalition government, approved last week a proposal to postpone for two months the discussion in the Chamber of Deputies of the minimum wage bill submitted by all opposition parties.

In today’s meeting at the Chigi Palace.

The opposition was represented by the leaders of the Democratic Party, the 5 Star Movement, Action, More Europe, the Italian Left and the Greens.

Among the 27 member states of the European Union (EU), Italy is one of five countries without a minimum wage, along with Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Austria, where wages are determined through collective bargaining between employers and trade unions.