MINUTES OF THE PRESIDENCY OFFICE MEETING
The Presidency Office of the Friuli Venezia Giulia/Veneto/South-Western Croatia CGIL, CISL, UIL, SSSH Interregional Trade Union Council met on 9th October 2007 in Trieste, at the headquarters in via Polonio 5.
Attending members: Roberto Treu (CGIL Friuli Venezia Giulia), Lorenzo Garziera (CISL Friuli Venezia Giulia, replacing Massimo Albanesi who was unable to attend), Luca Visentini (UIL Friuli Venezia Giulia), Gerardo Colamarco (UIL Veneto), Jadranka Tomašić (SSSH South-Western Croatia) and Slobodan Kapor (SSSH South-Western Croatia).
Absent on leave: Josip Šišović (SSSH South-Western Croatia) and Boris Majetić (South-Western Croatia).
Other attending persons: Monica Ukmar (CGIL Friuli Venezia Giulia), as guest, and Michele Berti (UIL Friuli Venezia Giulia), as speaker on some items of the agenda and as minute-taker.
Agenda of the Presidency Office Meeting:
- Workshop on the comparison between collective bargaining in the trading sector in Italy and Croatia;
- Assessment of the survey/study on the collective bargaining in the trading sector in Italy and Croatia;
- Convocation of the General Assembly meeting;
- Planning of 2008 activity;
- Any other business.
At 11.31, Luca Visentini, acting as President, opened and chaired the meeting of the Presidency Office.
Luca Visentini asked if all members received the minutes of the previous meeting of the Presidency Office, held on 3rd May, and asked for their approval. The Presidency Office unanimously approved the minutes. The debate on the items of the agenda was opened.
1. A proposal was made to hold the workshop on Thursday, 29th November in Istria, in Porec or Rovinij, after the Croatian Parliament general elections scheduled on the previous Sunday. Jadranka Tomašić will gather information on hotels and will ask for estimates which will be presented shortly with a view to selecting the most suitable location. Moreover, a proposal was made to hold a press conference with Croatian media after the meeting of the General Assembly scheduled on the day after the workshop. The Presidency Office unanimously approved the proposals.
2. The draft survey/study on the comparison between collective bargaining in the trade sector in Italy and in Croatia was presented. It will be completed in time to be handed out to the participants of the workshop under point 1.; members were required to assess it and add any integrations, if needed. The outline of the survey/study was defined on the basis of the suggestions made in the meeting of 5th June in Trieste, when the representatives of trade unions in the trade sector met to for a consultation on the collective bargaining in the two countries. In the first part of survey/study, edited by Ms Tamara Tomić, national contract sources as well as national and regional laws on the trade sectors in the two countries were been outlined, highlighting the most relevant rules and contracts. This part also included cases of level 2 or corporate bargaining, which are particularly important in the two countries, i.e. the PAM S.p.A. group in Italy and Konzum d.d. in Croatia. The second part included a comparison of all national, regional and corporate legal and contractual sources, pointing out similarities and differences. The situations in the two countries are different, as in Croatia there’s no national or county law on the sector, not even on shop opening times, whereas in Italy this issue is becoming alarming for trade unions. This is one of the major features of the survey/study, as it marks a significant difference between the two countries. A proposal was made to hand out the survey/study in advance to the federations of the organizations members of the IR.T.U.C. active in the trade sector, as a basis for consideration before the workshop. The draft text was found appropriate and the changes will be introduced on the text and on the dissemination before the workshop. The Presidency Office unanimously approved the proposals.
3. A proposal was made to call the annual General Assembly meeting the day after the workshop under point 1., i.e. Friday 30th November in the same hotel, where members may stay from the previous day. The meeting will start in the morning and will finish before lunch and, at the end of the meeting, the press conference with croatian media will be held. The Presidency Office unanimously approved the proposals. Finally, in the General Assembly meeting, members of the IR.T.U.C. bodies will be renewed in compliance with the Articles of Association, therefore attending persons were been invited to identify new candidates or to confirm current members on behalf their organizations.
4. Members were invited to identify proposal on IR.T.U.C. 2008 activities, which will be debated and approved at the next General Assembly meeting. Croatian members suggested the collective bargaining comparison should continue in other sectors, this time the topic could be the tourism sector. The fishing sector was considered as unadvisable, contrary to what had been suggested in the previous months, as this was not relevant for trade unions in the framework of IR.T.U.C. actions. Croatian members also suggested to compare privatisation policies in the shipbuilding sectors in the two countries, as the Croatian government will soon implement such policies. So, the General Assembly will be presented with the proposal to make a comparison on collective bargaining in the tourist sector in Italy and in Croatia and a comparison between privatisation policies in the shipbuilding sectors in the two countries. The Presidency Office unanimously approved the proposals.
5. No requests to take the floor were made on this last item of the agenda.
As no other requests to take the floor were made, Luca Visentini officially closed the meeting of the Presidency Office at 12.48.
The minute-taker
Michele Berti