Premier Giorgia Meloni said Monday
the minimum wage could be applied to some categories of workers
as part of all-round efforts to combat low salaries, but ruled
out tackling the problem with a single, generic law introducing
a minimum wage as proposed by opposition parties in July.
In an interview to Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica and La
Stampa, Meloni defended the decision to suspend for 60 days
examination by parliament of the joint opposition bill
introducing a minimum wage of 9 euros an hour and ask the
National Council for Economics and Labor (Cnel) to come up with
an alternative.
"I've said one precise thing: let's give the Cnel 60 days, in
time for the budget law, to present an all-round proposal to
combat substandard work, which could include the minimum wage
for some categories," she said.
"What I rule out is that an existing problem, that of low wages,
can be dealt with through a single and generic measure on the
minimum wage," the premier added.
At a meeting on the minumum-wage proposal on Friday, Meloni said
the opposition parties had "admitted that they know that the
minimum wage will not solve the problem of poor workers".
"However, since they have started collecting signatures, they
are going to press ahead," she said.
After the meeting on Friday the centre-left Democratic Party
(Pd) said it would collect signatures in support of the bill at
its summer festivals across Italy.
The opposition has also launched an online petition at
www.salariomininosubito.it.
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