There is a lot of talk about our Republican Constitution, sometimes relevant and often irrelevant. Few people know that some parts of our Constitution have never been implemented. A typical and striking example is the failure to implement the Article 46 of the Constitution. Article 46 of the Constitution states, “For the purpose of the economic and social elevation of labour and in accordance with the needs of production, the Republic recognises the right of workers to collaborate, in the manners and within the limits established by the law, in the management of the companies”.
But why we should not start again from the implementation of Article 46 of the Constitution, which has remained a dead letter for more than seventy years? Last spring the CISL general secretary Luigi Sbarra submitted to the Highest Court of Appeal, a popular legislative proposal entitled, “La Partecipazione al Lavoro – Per una governance di impresa partecipata dai lavoratori” (Work Participation – For a company governance with worker participation). At the same time, CISL launched a signatures collection campaign for a People’s Legislative Initiative aimed at implementing Article 46 of the Constitution. Since the post-war period, especially in Italy, there has been a predominant conflictual vision of the relationship between capital and labour, overwhelmingly at least until the income policy of the early 1990s, which has led to a limited involvement of workers in the business management.
Today, it is worth investing efforts and work towards encouraging harmony and solidarity between the parties in the work sphere. We think that worker’s participation in working places that are increasingly dematerialising, it is a challenge to take. Including workers representatives in corporate bodies is a way of involving and empowering the employees in the economic progress of the company. As many famous labour law experts have repeatedly highlighted, there are already countless concrete examples of worker involvement in our legal framework regarding labour. Let’s consider for example, the tax relief on performance bonuses in the case of equal involvement of workers in the organization of work. In this case, there is an explicit reference to the 10% substitute IRPEF tax on bonuses related to productivity increases.
In the specific case of the involvement of workers, in addition to the de-taxation, there is a form of labour costs tax reduction that translates into a partial contribution exemption that concerns both the employer’s and the employee’s share of contributions. But there are also other provisions in our layered labour code that aim to involve workers. Many collective bargaining agreements also propose stock ownership plans for employees, involving them further in the corporate management. The path is already traced, and what we need now for its implementation is the will of the political forces and also that of labour representatives. This is called social market economy, therefore, a new development model. In other words, according to what the great journalist Indro Montanelli used to say, “The state provides a position. Private enterprise gives a job.”
by Marzio Nava
DETERGO Magazine # March 2024
