Italian union calls strike over Monti's job reforms
After weeks of negotiation, Monti announced that the time for talking was over and he would press on with plans to overhaul employment protection laws dating back to the 1970s, despite stiff opposition from the left-wing CGIL union.
Reforming Italy's economy is at the heart of efforts to restore confidence in the euro zone.
The CGIL proposed an eight-hour general strike to protest against the measures, which would allow companies to lay off individual employees for disciplinary or business reasons, saying the changes risked causing massive job losses.
"This will not be a flare-up which burns out in a day as the government expects and we have a duty to get results before we see years of mass dismissals from companies," the union's secretariat said in a statement.
A day-long strike would be the biggest demonstration yet against unelected premier Monti, a former European Commissioner who has already imposed painful cuts and tax hikes and an overhaul of the pension system since taking office in November.
CGIL head Susanna Camusso, a tough, gravel-voiced chain smoker and the union's first woman leader, has called a news conference at 1700 GMT to outline the union's position. Another meeting with the government is planned at 1500 GMT on Thursday.
Employers welcomed the proposed changes to laws which they say discourage companies from hiring staff, hinder investment and condemn large numbers of young people to insecure, low-paid work with few rights.
"It's quite a profound change because it affects pretty much all issues relating to the labour market," Marco Venturi, head of the small business association Rete Imprese told Canale 5 television. "It was a long, drawn out discussion which ended with a conclusion which I think is quite satisfactory."
Monti, who clashed with UScorporate giants Microsoft and General Electric during his years in Brussels, has unveiled his tougher, uncompromising side by brushing aside CGIL opposition to a reform that was demanded last year by Italy's European partners.
He said that while he was worried by the CGIL position he would not negotiate further now that he had the broad support of the more moderate CISL and UIL unions as well as employers.
The reform plan unveiled yesterday went further than expected by weakening protections against dismissal not only in new contracts, as expected, but also for millions of people already in employment.
More than 30 percent of 18- to 24-year olds in Italy are unemployed, and only about 57 percent of Italians have a job, giving the country one of the lowest employment rates in the euro zone.
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