VIDEO | The Ugl says: “Confirm the tax wedge, no to the battle with the Jobs Act”

Director Nico Perrone interviews Paolo Capone, general secretary of Ugl

ROME – Help incomes, as well as employment; “confirm the cut in the tax wedge for next year too”; teach “safety at work” in middle schools and no to the “rearguard battle” for the abolition of the Jobs Act. Paolo Capone, general secretary of the Ugl, talks about all-round work in a video interview with the Dire agency.

Positive employment data but poor wages, how do the two aspects combine? “Meanwhile, the positive thing is that there is more work– replies Capone – the March survey carried out by Istat speaks of 0.2% more than the previous month. Good employment, because permanent contracts are increasing and fixed-term contracts are decreasing. GDP is also growing, so the country is catching up compared to other European countries. These are data that give us hope, but while there is growth in jobs, there is no growth in the salary or availability of each individual worker”.

“IN THE LAST 5 YEARS, PURCHASING POWER DOWN 5 POINTS”

Capone underlines: “The Istat data always say that in the last ten years the purchasing power of Italian workers’ wages has decreased by 5 points, while our German and French worker colleagues increased by more than 30%. It is evident that there have been somewhat timid contract renewal policies on the part of both Confindustria and the large employers’ associations, but above all also by the large unions. Here – he continues – we must reverse this trend. The government has done well with the cut in the tax wedge, and we hope that it will confirm it for next year, to lighten the burden of taxes on workers’ paychecks and restore, above all, those with incomes up to 35 thousand euros, the lowest ones, greater availability of money to compensate for what wages were not able to fully do in the negotiations.”

SAFETY AT WORK: “IT NEEDS TO BE TEACHED IN SCHOOLS”

Speaking of safety at work, Capone recalls that “in Italy there are three deaths a day, an unacceptable number. We have cutting-edge legislation, but it has not solved all the problems. It has arrived the time to teach workplace safety from middle schools on”. On the referendum for the abolition of the Jobs Act promoted by the CGIL, Capone shakes his head: “It’s a rearguard battle – he says – it would be better to focus on the new jobs that will interact more with artificial intelligence and automation”.