COUNCILLOR PAGLIA IS CATEGORIC, IN ORDER TO SAFEGUARD THE WORKERS AND THE SURVIVAL OF THE COMPANY, IT IS NECESSARY TO WITHDRAW OR SUSPEND THE DISMISSAL PROCEDURE.

No one expected it to be the decisive day for a dispute that promises to be long-winded, but from the August 3 meeting at the Emilia Romagna Region—requested by the regional CGIL, CISL, and UIL unions as soon as they learned of the layoffs—a firm institutional position emerged, fully supporting the workers' demands. A unanimous chorus was raised not only by Giovanni Paglia, Regional Councilor for Labor, but also by the Municipality and the Province of Ferrara, represented respectively by Councilor Angela Travagli and Vice President Alessandro Guaraldi.

The regional director also expressed his hope, shared by the social partners, that the Italian and European governments will soon implement legislation to address the increasingly frequent speculation by foreign funds targeting even healthy companies, as in this case.

Having established that the US fund Lone Star's position is to liquidate the company as it is not profitable enough to be profitably resold, all the stakeholders at the table agreed that finding a buyer willing to acquire Coperion and the highly professional staff of its employees will take longer than the collective dismissal procedure would require. The Italian company management itself has estimated the end of next March as a reasonable deadline to complete the current orders, a deadline that the social and institutional parties want to reach with all the staff still in force, without losing departments such as sales, which appear to have been sidelined by the’impasse current.

Not only to find the buyer, but also to verify the solidity and quality of the offer (in terms of safeguarding of personnel and permanence in the territory), the appointment of a advisor as has already happened in recent times with other “corporate crises”, a term which in this specific case jars annoyingly with the profits obtained by Coperion on the balance sheet.

Filcams Cgil, Fisascat Cisl, and Uiltucs Uil hope to receive this and other answers on Wednesday the 5th, at the next meeting with the company, which promises to be intense, also due to the strike initiatives already announced.

In our province, the female employment rate has risen from 66.1 to 72.1 in two years. Tagliavia, secretary of the CISL union, said: "The numbers are an encouraging sign, but they're not enough.".

Ferrara is increasingly proving to be a land of women's work, but the parity remains far away. This is the picture that emerges from the report on the labor market from a gender perspective in Emilia-Romagna prepared by the Labor Market Policies Department of the USR and the Gender Policies Coordination of the CISL Emilia Romagna, which describes a region capable of growing thanks to the increase in female employment, while continuing to deal with wage gaps, greater precariousness and unemployment that is still significantly higher than that of men.

The most striking fact is the rate of female employment, which rose from 66.1 to 72 percent in just two years. This increase represents the best result recorded in Emilia-Romagna and allows Ferrara to surpass the regional average, which stood at 69.61 TP3T. Overall, the employment rate reached 84.41 TP3T for men and 72.1 TP3T for women, a sign of a labor market that continues to strengthen but in which a gap of over twelve percentage points between the two genders persists. The analysis highlights how the growth was accompanied by a significant decline in female inactivity, which fell from 33 to 28.41 TP3T over the three-year period. This indicator reflects growing female participation in the labor market and is one of the most encouraging signs to emerge from the survey.

The figures on employment quality are less encouraging. New hires confirm a greater prevalence of part-time and fixed-term contracts among female workers, while contractual changes primarily benefit men, with the move to permanent contracts. This trend continues to fuel precarious employment and less stable career paths for women. The unemployment situation also presents a mixed picture. While the rate remains low overall, the 3.1% for men and 5.6% for women still reveal a marked gap, with the female component continuing to record higher levels than the regional average. Differences emerge as early as entry into the workforce.

Data on graduates from the University of Ferrara show that women often achieve better academic results and, in some cases, even higher employment levels, yet continue to earn lower average salaries. For master's degree holders, the pay gap exceeds €240 net per month, while for bachelor's and master's degree holders, the difference is around €230. According to Giuseppe Tagliavia, general secretary of the Ferrara CISL union, the numbers are encouraging, but not sufficient. "The growth in female employment is good news and demonstrates that our region possesses significant potential. However, we cannot stop at the quantity of jobs: today, the real challenge concerns the quality of employment, the stability of contracts, and overcoming the pay gap that continues to penalize female workers.".

From the CISL secretary's perspective, the report also outlines the direction of future policies. "Ferrara has demonstrated its ability to increase women's labor market participation, but now investments are needed in work-life balance services, continuing education, and industrial policies that promote skilled employment. Only in this way can these results be consolidated over time." Tagliavia finally draws attention to the role of collective bargaining. "Local and company-level bargaining must be increasingly focused on reducing the involuntary use of part-time work, encouraging the transformation of stable contracts, and closing the wage gap. The data tells us that Ferrara is on the right track, but they also clearly highlight that substantive equality in the workplace remains a goal to be achieved.".

Article: Il Resto del Carlino

FILCAMS CGIL, FISASCAT CISL AND UILTUCS RELAUNCH THE MOBILIZATION: MAYORS, REGIONS AND LOCAL INSTITUTIONS INVOLVED IN SUPPORT OF WORK IN MUNICIPAL PHARMACIES AND OF THE PROFESSIONALISM OF THE SECTOR

Wednesday 17th it will go off national strike of the workers of the Special Pharmacies proclaimed by the trade union organizations Filcams Cgil, Fisascat Cisl and Uiltucs for the entire day.

The dispute stems from the renewal of the national collective bargaining agreement signed with Assofarm, which expired on December 31, 2024 and applies to over 6,000 pharmacists and collaborators of municipal pharmacies.

The mobilization comes after a lengthy negotiation that failed to produce satisfactory economic and regulatory results, and after the failure of the cooling-off and conciliation procedure provided for by current legislation.

At the heart of the dispute is the recovery of wage purchasing power, the valorization of professionalism, and the recognition of the increasingly central role played by public pharmacy workers in the provision of service pharmacies and local healthcare.

In anticipation of the strike, trade unions are promoting awareness-raising initiatives and discussions with regional, municipal, and local institutions across the country, ensuring full understanding that the ongoing dispute concerns not only the renewal of the national contract, but the very future of specialty pharmacies and the network of community services. This network has assumed an increasingly central role in community care in recent years, expanding its activities and functions. This has not been adequately reflected in the economic and professional conditions of workers in the sector, so much so that it is now struggling to attract new professionals.
For Filcams Cgil, Fisascat Cisl, and Uiltucs, the dispute over the adjustment of working conditions directly affects the quality, stability, and credibility of an essential public institution, increasingly called upon to respond to the health and community needs of citizens.

“"Promoting work in public pharmacies," declared Filcams Cgil, Fisascat Cisl, and Uiltucs, "means defending a vital health and social service for local communities. For this reason, we are calling on Assofarm to reopen discussions that will allow us to quickly provide concrete responses to the needs of workers and adequately value their role.".

The strike of the June 17th will affect the entire work shift in compliance with the rules governing the exercise of the right to strike in essential public services, and will be accompanied by Ferrara by a picket in Piazza Municipio from 10 to 12, as well as by leafleting at individual pharmacies aimed at informing users about the reasons for the dispute.

As a result of the above, there may be disruptions in the provision of services at municipal pharmacies.

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