Italy: Unions divided over public sector agreement

The Cisl and Uil trade union confederations reached a deal on public sector pay and bargaining reform with the government in October 2008 but, in an unprecedented move, the third main union confederation, Cgil, refused to sign the agreement.

On 30 October, Cisl, Uil and the centre-right government signed a renewal of the pay terms of the agreement covering public employees, which will also influence subsequent agreements for individual parts of the public sector; notably schools, healthcare and ministry employees.