Four months of reports, formal notices, and mediation attempts have not been enough. Now, Flai Cgil, Fai Cisl, and Uila Uil are calling on the City of Cagliari to revoke the contract for the maintenance of greenery in the city cemeteries , awarded to the Primavera 83 Cooperative, and are declaring a state of worker unrest.
According to the unions, since March, employees working in the service have been earning €130 less than stipulated in the National Contract for Agricultural and Horticultural Workers. The cooperative is reportedly working a 35.5-hour week instead of the 39 hours stipulated in the National Collective Bargaining Agreement, which also violates the terms of the contract.
For the unions, there's another aspect that makes the matter even more serious. The cooperative allegedly won the contract by submitting a more competitive offer to the contracting authority, based on lower labor costs than those envisaged by the National Collective Bargaining Agreement (CCNL), and passing the savings onto workers' wages. This mechanism, they argue, distorted competition, penalizing companies that properly implement the National Collective Bargaining Agreement.
But the matter has been dragging on for months. As early as March 12th, the three unions reported the case to the municipality without receiving a response. On April 16th, they filed a formal complaint, and on April 28th, they issued a formal warning to the cooperative. Only then did the municipality convene a meeting in which Primavera 83 committed to adjusting the working hours to 39 hours a week. However, the unions report, as of June 29th, the workers had not received any updates, nor had they received their new contracts.
In light of the failure to comply, Flai Cgil, Fai Cisl, and Uila Uil have formally requested the contract be revoked and declared a state of strike. "The workers at the Cagliari cemeteries," the statement reads, "deserve respect for the contract that protects them. We are not asking for favors; we are demanding that the law be enforced. Starting today."
