US embassy cable - 05ROME2148

C O N F I D E N T I A L  ROME 002148 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/22/2015 
TAGS: MARR, ELAB, IT 
SUBJECT: FRUSTRATED ITALIAN UNIONS TO SEEK MINISTRY OF 
LABOR MEDIATION ON COE NEGOTIATIONS 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY LABORCOUNS CANDACE PUTNAM FOR REASONS 1.4 
(B)(D), 
 
1.  (U)  This is an action request, please see para 10. 
 
2.  (C)  Summary: Italian unions representing civilians who 
work for the U.S. military on Italian bases expressed to 
Embassy Labor Counselor extreme frustration over the 
inability to conclude a Conditions of Employment agreement 
for the last two years.  They feel the JCPC is leaderless, 
unresponsive and seemingly powerless to make decisions.  To 
achieve results, they are considering strikes and appeals to 
the Ministry of Labor for mediation and the Ministry of 
Defense for political support.  Embassy believes some 
immediate response that offers the unions a commitment for 
serious negotiating sessions would forestall this appeal for 
mediation.   Given the current climate, we urge careful 
consideration of proposals for additional RIFs at the Naples 
Hospital.  Embassy requests NAVEUR guidance on how to respond 
to the unions.  End Summary 
 
3.  (SBU)  Mario Piovesan (Fisascat/CISL) and Emilio 
Fargonoli (Uiltucs/UIL), national representatives of the two 
unions that represent Italians working for the U.S. military 
on Italian bases, requested a meeting with Embassy Labor 
Counselor June 16 to convey their extreme frustration with 
the lack of progress in the Conditions of Employment (COE) 
negotiations.  They characterized the state of union-U.S. 
military relations as being &in crisis8 over a COE that 
expired in September 2003. 
 
4.  (SBU)  Union complaints centered on their sense that the 
Joint Civilian Personnel Committee (JCPC) is leaderless, 
unresponsive and seemingly powerless to make any decisions. 
As examples, they cited the infrequency of high-level 
meetings, months-long delays in receiving responses to 
letters, and responses they characterized as being uniformly 
negative with no suggestions of compromise.  Fargonoli said 
the JCPC team leaders made a wonderful first impression with 
the unions but have since been absent from key meetings or 
unwilling/unable to offer compromises.  They sensed that the 
U.S. negotiators were not adequately focused on Italian 
negotiations.  Union discussions on the issue of RIFs also, 
they believe, revealed a lack of coordination between 
military commands and civilian JCPC members. 
 
5. (SBU)  The unions are particularly annoyed by the JCPC 
decision to refer COE issues to a sub-committee that, in 
their view, lacks the political clout to make decisions. 
Piovesan and Fargonoli feel that the sub-committee is just a 
technical body that needs clearance from the JCPC to make 
decisions.  When they try to approach the JCPC, however, they 
are bounced back to the sub-committee.  They increasingly 
feel this is a tactic that reflects deliberate USG policy to 
delay progress on a new COE.  Ideally, they would like an 
Italian representative on the JCPC. 
 
6.  (SBU)  Expressing frustration, Piovesan and Fargonoli 
said the unions would be forced to approach the Ministry of 
Labor for mediation and the Ministry of Defense for political 
support.  They will also consider strike action.  Without 
explicitly saying it, the two also intimated they would work 
the issue through both media and civilian political channels. 
Labor Counselor thanked them for sharing their concerns and 
asked that the unions hold off on any further action until 
the Embassy could convey union concerns to the appropriate 
U.S. military authorities.  She stressed that the Embassy was 
not a party to the negotiations and that our role was only to 
facilitate discussion. 
 
7.  (SBU)  Under Italian law, the Ministry of Labor can 
mediate differences on disputes over national collective 
labor contracts between labor representatives and employers 
when requested by one or both of the parties after 
negotiations fail to produce a contract.  The MOL Department 
for Safeguarding Conditions of Employment summons the parties 
and suggests feasible solutions for a compromise.  There is 
no standard procedure or timetable for the mediation process, 
and the MOL,s proposals are not binding on the parties. 
 
RIF Actions 
----------- 
 
8.  (SBU)  Laborcouns also asked about the status of RIFs 
that have been discussed with unions since February 2005. 
Piovesan said the unions were generally satisfied with 
progress on this issue; however, the status of five workers 
scheduled to be RIF,d in Sigonella and one in Naples had yet 
to be finally determined.  Embassy did not raise the proposed 
additional eight RIFs at the Navy Hospital in Naples, and the 
union representatives did not indicate they had heard any 
rumors about the new RIFs. 
 
9.  (C) Comment:  The union representatives exhibited more 
frustration than anger over the lack of progress on COE 
negotiations.  They appear to want to negotiate but feel they 
have no credible and focused interlocutors in the JCPC. 
Given deteriorating economic conditions (Italy is now 
officially in recession) and an increasingly unsettled 
national political scene, we fully expect the unions will 
call strikes and make their case through unhelpful media 
intervention.  Given this climate, we are concerned about the 
effect of proposals for an additional eight RIFs at the 
Naples Hospital.  We predict the unions will react very 
negatively to what they will see as an uncoordinated surprise 
by U.S. personnel managers. 
 
10.  (C)  By engaging the MOL in mediation efforts, they are 
seeking to bring political pressure to bear on the U.S. side. 
Historically, in mediations the MOL has offered compromises 
that favor workers over employers.  Although such a 
compromise proposal would not be binding, unions clearly 
believe it would strengthen their bargaining position with 
the U.S.  With upcoming elections, we cannot preclude the 
possibility that some MOL personnel could publicize the issue 
for political gain.  Our sense is that some immediate 
attention (perhaps in the form of phone calls and letters to 
national CISL and UIL representatives) offering commitments 
for serious COE negotiating sessions in the near future 
(i.e., the new few months) could forestall a request for MOL 
mediation.  Action Request: Embassy stands ready to support 
NAVEUR,s decision on the way forward and awaits guidance on 
how to respond to the unions. 
 
KILNER 
 
 
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2005ROME02148 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL