Renzi govt faces Jobs Act confidence vote, EU summit

(ANSA) - Rome, October 8 - Premier Matteo Renzi's government faces a crunch confidence vote in the Senate on Wednesday over its controversial Jobs Act labour reform on the same day that Italy plays host to a European Union summit on battling unemployment in Milan. Renzi says promoting jobs is a priority for his executive, as unemployment in Italy has almost doubled to postwar highs of over 12% since the start of the global economic crisis in 2008 and over four in 10 under-25s who are on the labour market are jobless.
    The government has called the confidence vote to pressure dissidents within Renzi's own centre-left Democratic Party (PD), who are opposed to changes to the law on unfair dismissal, to come into line and vote in favour. But it is a high-risk strategy as the executive will collapse if it loses a confidence vote.
    "I don't fear ambushes," Renzi said Tuesday. "If there were any, we'd face them". A minority within the PD is against a controversial change to the 1970 Workers' Statute abolishing Article 18, which currently protects workers from unfair dismissal, for newly hired staff.
    Renzi argues Article 18 discourages firms from hiring staff, as it is hard to get rid of someone once they are on the books, and has contributed to high levels of unemployment and the overuse of temporary and freelance contracts, especially for young people. But the government is also taking action to try to appease the PD rebels.
    Early on Wednesday it will present an amendment to bring the legislation in line with a document approved at a heated PD meeting last week, ANSA sources said. Initially, the Jobs Act said that Article 18, which guarantees people unjust sacked the right to their job back, would remain in force for people already in jobs and would only apply to new hires in cases of discrimination. But the PD document said that the guarantee should also apply in cases when a newly hired worker is dismissed on disciplinary grounds that a court rules are unfounded. The confidence vote is likely to take place late on Wednesday, the sources said. The Jobs Act, which has been approved at the committee stage, also progressively raises safeguards for new hires, slashes the plethora of temp contracts currently plaguing entry workers, and establishes a minimum wage and extends unemployment benefit.