MINUTES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING
The General Assembly of the Friuli Venezia Giulia/Veneto/Croatian Istria CGIL, CISL, UIL, SSSH Interregional Trade Union Council met on 1st December 2005 in Opatija (HR), at the Opatija Hotel (Trg. V. Gortana 2/1).
Attending members: Roberto Treu (CGIL Friuli Venezia Giulia), Giovanni Della Valle (CISL Veneto), Luca Visentini (UIL Friuli Venezia Giulia), Michele Berti (UIL Friuli Venezia Giulia, substitute of Tatjana Tomičić who resigned), Slobodan Kapor (SSSH Istria), Josip Šišović (SSSH Istria), Salvino Bibulić (SSSH Istria).
Absent on leave: Luciano Del Rosso (CGIL Friuli Venezia Giulia), Renata Bagattin (CGIL Friuli Venezia Giulia), Luciana Levi Bettin (CGIL Veneto).
Abstent without leave: Giovanni Fania (CISL Friuli Venezia Giulia), Umberto Brusciano (CISL Friuli Venezia Giulia), Paolo Coppa (CISL Friuli Venezia Giulia), Ðino Šverko (SSSH Istria), Lučano Peršić (SSSH Istria), Delia Trošt (SSSH Istria), Ernesto Martinčić (SSSH Istria).
Other attending persons: Jadranka Tomašić (SSSH Istria, appointed as member of the General Assembly in the previous meeting of 12th July 2004 to replace a member of SSSH Istria whose candidature has never been identified) and Monica Ukmar (CGIL Friuli Venezia Giulia), as guests
Agenda of General Assembly Meeting:
- Amendments to the Articles of Association;
- Election of the members of I.T.U.C. bodies;
- Planning of 2006 activities;
- Any other business.
At 11.13, Luca Visentini, acting as President of I.T.U.C., opened and chaired the General Assembly.
1. Luca Visentini informed the General Assembly that the I.T.U.C. Articles of Association were widely revised through a proposal of revision (enclosed to the present minute) – as the text was obsolete and not enforced, some parts were not enforceable – and the relevant amendments have now submitted to the General Assembly. He added that the draft amendments (that were handed out to all members) had been debated at length and were finally approved by the Presidency Office. The President asked Michele Berti to give a presentation on this topic. Michele Berti explained that the main draft amendments redressed faults and contradictions in the current version of the Articles of Associations that required some changes. The debate on the draft amendments was opened. At article 1., point 3., Roberto Treu suggested to add, after the words “Alps-Adriatic Working Community”, the following other words “and other areas of interest”. This was aimed at avoiding any territorial constraints in the relations with other organisations in other parts of Europe and especially at increasing financing opportunities. A debate was held on other suggested amendments, but none have been accepted. So, Luca Visentini opened the vote on the draft amendments, including the change suggested by Roberto Treu to article 1. The General Assembly unanimously adopted the proposal.
2. As for the election of the members of the General Assembly, whose number was reduced from 19 to 18 with the adoption of the amendments, as explained under point 1., Michele Berti read out the names of the candidates suggested by the organisations which were not attending. These candidates were Luciana Levi Bettin for CGIL Veneto (reappointed member), Massimo Albanesi (new member) and Giovanni Fania for CISL Friuli Venezia Giulia and Gerardo Colamarco for UIL Veneto. He invited attending members to name the candidate for each organisations. Roberto Treu confirmed his candidature and the candidature of Renata Bagattin for CGIL Friuli Venezia Giulia. Giovanni Della Valle confirmed his candidature for CISL Veneto. Luca Visentini confirmed his candidature and suggested Michele Berti as full member – so far he had been a substitute – for UIL Friuli Venezia Giulia. Jadranka Tomašić confirmed his candidature and the candidatures of Slobodan Kapor, Josip Šišović and Salvino Bibulić for SSSH South-Western Croatia. She added that, as soon as the internal reorganisation of her trade union was completed and in any case before the next meeting of the Presidency Office, she would notify the other five members of SSSH South-Western Croatia, trying to find them in the counties of Lika-Senj and Primorje-Gorski Kotar. A vote was held on the proposal concerning the candidates of the General Assembly, as presented by the trade unions organizations affiliated to the I.T.U.C., taking into account that five candidates of SSSH South-Western Croatia will be notified at a later date. The General Assembly of I.T.U.C. unanimously approved the proposal. Similarly, as for the election of the Presidency Office members – increased from 7 to 8, following the amendments to the Articles of Associations agreed under point 1. –, Luca Visentini announced that, after 2 years, it was now the turn of UIL Veneto to appoint its representative in the Presidency Office of I.T.U.C. This was required under the rotation criteria for the Veneto trade unions: so, for the next two years, Gerardo Colamarco, General Secretary of UIL Veneto, was appointed as member of the Presidency Office. Luca Visentini thanked the outgoing member, Giovanni Della Valle, from CISL Veneto, for his work for I.T.U.C. in the previous two years. Michele Berti read out the names of candidates presented by the two organisations which were not attending. CISL Friuli Venezia-Giulia designated a new candidate, Massimo Albanesi. Attending members were required to name the candidate for each organisations. Roberto Treu confirmed his candidature for CGIL Friuli Venezia Giulia. Luca Visentini confirmed his candidature for UIL Friuli Venezia Giulia. Jadranka Tomašic confirmed her candidature and presented the new candidature of Slobodan Kapor, for SSSH South-Western Croatia. Also for the Presidency Office, she was not in a position to present all candidates. She added she would present the remaining two candidates of the SSSH South-Western Croatia at the next meeting of the Presidency Office. Luca Visentini opened the vote on the proposal concerning the candidates of the Presidency Office, as presented by the trade unions organizations affiliated to the I.T.U.C., taking into account that two candidates of SSSH South-Western Croatia will be notified as soon as possible. The General Assembly of I.T.U.C. unanimously approved the proposal. In the light of the results of the vote, Luca Visentini suggested that Jadranka Tomašić be confirmed as candidate Vice-President of I.T.U.C. with a view to being officially appointed in the next meeting of the Presidency Office, as required by the Articles of Association. The General Assembly of I.T.U.C. unanimously approved the proposal. As for the election of the President of I.T.U.C., Michele Berti reminded the General Assembly that Luca Visentini from UIL Friuli Venezia-Giulia had announced he was willing to be appointed again. Therefore, Michele Berti opened the vote on Luca Visentini as candidate for the position of President of I.T.U.C. The General Assembly of I.T.U.C. unanimously approved the proposal.
3. Luca Visentini asked the members to present their proposals on I.T.U.C. activities for 2006, taking into account what emerged in the activities implemented in the current year, i.e. the need to find synergies to the benefit of Croatian colleagues with a view to establishing proper and effective trade union relations with Italian companies delocalising in Croatia. Josip Šišović said that workshops should be organised between the trade union organizations affiliated to the I.T.U.C. and Croatian politicians to debate the prospects for the Croatian economy. In particular, Croatian export trends, especially from Istria, should be discussed. Salvino Bibulić said that some initiatives should be implemented to assist Croatian trade unions in the difficult negotiating relations with Italian entrepreneurs who delocalised in Croatia and with Italian industrialists’ associations. In the end, a common platform aimed at solving collective bargaining issues should be set up. Roberto Treu emphasised the importance of direct contacts between Italian and Croatian trade unions which are working in the Italian and Croatian branches of the same company. This should happen between trade unions or between trade union delegations at company level. In his opinion, two important actions should be implemented: firstly, Croatian trade unions should be supported in the relations with employers; secondly, the role of trade unions in the EU membership process should be supported and enhanced. To this end, the possibility to obtain EU and INTERREG funds must be explored. As for EU funds, Slobodan Kapor said that financing could be used to support common issues for Italian and Croatian workers, for instance social welfare, healthcare and the fight against illegal employment. Monica Ukmar said it would be particularly useful to draft a bilingual handbook, Italian and Croatian, on the features of labour markets in the two countries. Moreover, meetings between those in charge of applying for UE financing should be organised between Italian and Croatian organisations. As no one else asked for the floor, Luca Visentini summed up the debate and the three proposals that were made:
- to organise meeting between Italian and Croatian trade unions of the same sector, working in the Italian and Croatian branches of the same Italian companies. In this sense, the trade unions organizations affiliated to the I.T.U.C. were invited to name the companies that may be involved;
- to organise working meetings on specific issues between I.T.U.C. and Italian and Croatian local politicians;
- to gather information on the application and use of EU funds.
Luca Visentini opened the vote on these proposals. The General Assembly of I.T.U.C. unanimously approved them.
4. Luca Visentini asked Michele Berti to report on the mission carried out in Osijek in Croatia at the end of the previous month of November. Michele Berti explained that the mission in Slavonia was especially aimed at gathering information on the delocalisation of Italian companies in Croatia for the workshop scheduled in Opatija. He and Giovanni Della Valle together with a colleague from SSSH visited two yarn suppliers of the Osijek branch of the Benetton Group. In this respect, Jadranka Tomašić specified that he was Ante Kraijna, who replaced her, as she was not able to join the mission due to other commitments. Giovanni Della Valle said that these two Italian companies were “forced” to delocalise in Croatia, as this was the only opportunity they had to receive orders from the Benetton Group, which opened a dyework plant in Osijek. One of these two suppliers had a recent delocalisation experience in Romania, where a plant was opened and later closed due to the delocalisation in Croatia. He added that the industrial area is a duty-free area, created by the Croatian government at the end of the war to attract foreign companies with favourable economic and fiscal conditions. In conclusion, he underlines that in the two plants, trade unions are active and no attempts have been made by the employers to hamper trade unions rights of workers, who are mostly women. The two critical issues are the following: from the point of view of trade unions, the unwillingness of the employers to sign the integrative contract and, from the point of view of the employers, the excessive absenteeism, in particular in one of the plants peaks 16% of the total workforce. Therefore, the employer made pressures on workers, threatening to close down the plant and transfer the business in another Eastern country where labour costs are even lower, with the aim of reducing absenteeism. In Croatia, healthcare benefits are paid entirely by companies, and therefore this is a burden for the company. Slobodan Kapor pointed out that, thanks to the duty-free status in Osijek, advantages are granted to companies hiring new staff. This could be the main reason why the Italian company delocalised from Romania to Croatia. Roberto Treu reminded the General Assembly that duty-free areas are detrimental to free competition and therefore they could be an obstacle in the EU membership process, as such areas are not allowed in the EU member countries. To conclude the report on the mission to Osijek, Michele Berti noted that both entrepreneurs were surprised and curious about the mission: after many years, this was the first time that some Italian representative – from the trade unions, or the employers organizations or the Italian public services that support the italian companies settled abroad – came to see them. This was extremely revealing on delocalisation, especially on delocalisation in Croatia. Unlike what happen in Romania – as the public focussed on this issue – delocalisation in Croatia might be neglected due to the progressive harmonisation of standards of living caused by the EU integration process, including labour costs, actually before Italian trade unions were aware of this. Jadranka Tomašić closed the debate and reminded that, in general, entrepreneurs delocalising in Croatia do comply with the minimum wage, as required by employment contracts, but they actually prevent trade unions from negotiating on workers’ rights. Official unemployment rate in Croatia amounts to 20%. Once this limit is exceeded, market laws do not apply anymore.
As no requests to take the floor were made, Luca Visentini officially closed the meeting of the General Assembly at 12.57.
The minute-taker
Michele Berti
Annex:
- Document containing the amendments to the Articles of Association of I.T.U.C., as approved by the General Assembly.