Italian trade unions have reached a groundbreaking settlement with the government covering pay and conditions for civil servants.
Negotiations on the public employment contract had been blocked for seven years. But a deal was finally reached at the end of November in talks between Civil Service Minister Marianna Madia, and the leaders of CGIL, CISL and UIL, Susanna Camusso, Annamaria Furlan and Carmelo Barbagallo.
The accord means an average pay rise of €85, weighted towards lower-paid workers. The government "has committed a total of €5 billion over three years from 2016 to 2018," said Susanna Camusso after the meeting.
"New rules for new contracts. It is the change we wanted and we got, thanks to the courageous and determined mobilisation of millions of public workers,” said Giovanni Faverin, General Secretary of CISL FP.