On 21 February 2017, SMI (Sistema Moda Italiana) and the professional trade unions (Femca-Cisl, Filctem-Cgil, Uiltec-Uil) signed a draft renewal agreement of the National Collective Bargaining Agreement for the Textile, Apparel and Fashion sector. The new contract is effective from 1 April 2016 – therefore without interruption respect to the previous National Collective Bargaining Agreement dated 4 February 2014 – and it will expire on 31 December 2019. The individual terms amended or introduced ex novo by the agreement shall become effective from 21 February 2017. The main points of the renewal concern the financial aspects, the regulatory section and the contractual welfare. First of all, the EGR value is increased, that is the element of remuneration guarantee in favour of employees hired by companies that did not negotiate company agreements and do not receive any other financial benefits in addition to those established by the National Collective Bargaining Agreement. In the regulatory section, for example, regarding fixed term contracts, the possibility is established to exceed the term of 36 months in the case of tasks regarding specific activities (such as seasonal sales) and the number of employees that can be hired with fixed term contract cannot exceed the maximum threshold of 30% of the number of employees under permanent employment contract. In addition, the regulation on permits, absences and leaves has changed as well. In particular, for the experimental period until 31 December 2018, a father who is an employee, within the first five months from birth of the child, must not work for a period of two days in the year 2017 and four days in the year 2018. Finally, the parties agreed to an investment in contractual welfare and in establishing a new bilateral fund for integrative health care assistance open to all the sector’s operators. These and many others are the news that the textile industry operators will face.
