Italy is now among the most unchangeable countries in Europe. Giorgia Meloni has a safe majority in parliament and not very beneficial to her coalition partners polls make the nationalist prime minister number on Salvini's loyalty and Berlusconi's graves. However, it is now facing 1 of the most serious challenges of the current word of office, as on 8 and 9 June there will be a referendum uncomfortable for Meloni's cabinet, mainly on labour issues.
To four out of 5 questions corresponds to the Italian Universal Labour Confederation (CGIL), the largest trade union in Italy, which, under a referendum on labour law, collected as many as 4 million signatures. The second added a coalition of insignificant liberal and leftist parties, aiming to cut the required time of residence in Italy by half erstwhile applying for citizenship. There were less signatures (a small over half a million required), so the run before the referendum dominated the demands of trade unionists.
Fixing the “left” government errors
Initiators of the vote on the first 4 questions say that their goal is to work "stable, dignified, protected and safe", and each of these slogans refers to a circumstantial proposal. CGIL trade unionists want first of all provisions that will better defend workers from unlawful dismissals – in large companies they will force the reinstatement of redundant workers in the event of an appropriate court judgement (now adequate compensation) and in tiny ones will abolish the current compensation limit to pay wrongfully paid employee.
In addition, there is simply a request to reduce the universality of fixed-term contracts abused by employers. Currently, more than 2 million Italians work on contracts (maximum annual), although this is usually not justified and simply deprives them of their employment security. The 4th proposal of trade unionists in turn aims to increase purely physical security, charging companies employing subcontractors with greater work for the lives and wellness of their employees.
All of these proposals apart from the last 1 are actually undoing the changes introduced by Matteo Renzi's government in 2014 as part of Jobs Act. They were meant to service liberalisation (or deregulation to usage the fashionable word recently) of the labour marketplace and to increase employment, but in practice they weakened the position of workers, led to precarisation, and mass dismissals did not stop. The unions of CGIL are so attempting to undo the neoliberal reform, for which the centre-left Democratic organization was liable in theory.
Renzi himself stands up for his legacy and calls for a vote against unionist proposals, but he does so as the leader of a insignificant liberal party, while the Democratic organization led by Elly Schlein It has adjusted the course for more friendly workers and full supports the CGIL referendum initiative. Like the remainder of the leftist parties, the populist 5 Star Movement and a number of NGOs. Their main opponents, however, are not centrists like Renzie, but the 1 holding the right.
Anti-government plebiscite?
Although the referendum mainly concerns the law introduced by the current opposition, Meloni's cabinet does not want to take advantage of this chance to present itself as being on the staff side. This is not surprising, due to the fact that the right-wing coalition has consistently pursued the interests of large business, cuts social spending and supports the privatisation of public property. Jobs Act is 1 of Renzie's fewer moves under which Giorgia Meloni can freely sign due to the fact that he shares his neoliberal view of the economy.
In addition, there is the 5th question, which aims to reduce the time (from 10 to 5 years) during which the foreigner must continuously live in Italyto be able to apply for citizenship. another requirements, specified as language cognition or unpunishedness, will stay unchanged. This is another law older than the current government, but facilitating the process of acquiring citizenship would indirectly hit Meloni's anti-immigrant agenda, beginning the way for faster integration of visitors from another countries and showing that the Italians are more open to immigrants than their authorities.
It is comforting for Meloni that the Constitutional Court, for procedural reasons, did not let a vote on the sixth referendum initiative, which aimed at rejecting 1 of the flagship government projects: increasing regional autonomy. Only that the same institution had previously cut off the legislation, so this deficiency is simply a consolation prize. alternatively modest, especially since the another 5 questions government critics intend to usage to mobilize against Meloni. The referendal urns call on practically all opposition parties, despite differences in the suggested voting responses. What about the electorate?
According to the polls, the first 4 questions are supported by 2 out of 3 or 3 out of 4 Italians, so the triumph of the yes option is almost certain. The consequence of the 5th referendum vote is simply a question mark, the predominance of supporters of shortening the process of acquiring citizenship is not so clear – although we are inactive talking about more than half of the respondents. All this may not matter, however, due to the fact that the ruling coalition has chosen a safer strategy and alternatively of agitating to reject all proposals in the vote, it simply wants to make the full referendum invalid.
Fight for attendance
For the referendum to be binding, at least half of the eligible must participate. Meanwhile, assurance in democracy and the planet of politics in Italy is steadily falling, discouraging citizens to participate in voting. Consequently, election attendances from fresh years are lowest in the past of the Republic – only 64% of Italians voted in the 2022 parliamentary elections. By comparison, the turnout was 84 percent by 20 years ago.
Therefore, the boycott of the referendum by supporters of the right-wing ruling coalition actually guarantees its failure, as all polling studios anticipate at this moment, forecasting attendance around 35-40 percent. The opposition accuses Meloni and her allies of killing Italian democracy and dissuades citizens from participating in the country's political life. A Liberal organization politician +Europe in the act of protest entered the parliamentary hall in a spirit disguise, criticizing the promotion of electoral abstractionism.
However, not everything must be lost to the opposition – the desire to remove anti-worker's rules can motivate at least any right-wing voters and those boycotting the last parliamentary elections. It is an open question whether bringing labour and migration issues together will aid turnouts – possibly to get those who care about 1 of them out of their homes, but would not participate in the referendum on the another alone.
The initiators of the referendum are fighting a hard conflict in the face of calls for abstractionism from the ruling right, but in this case even defeat can be converted into victory. Meloni's stance in the referendum clearly shows her anti-worker position, so the Prime Minister exposes herself to attacks in the coming years, while the Democratic organization can fight to regain employees' confidence. What if, contrary to expectations, the referendum had passed, having achieved the required attendance? Well, then the opposition would all the more wind up in the sails, inflicting a major defeat on the so-far very unchangeable regulation of the right.
