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28 April 2000
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CESCR
22nd Session
28 April 2000
Morning
A Government delegation from Italy this morning told the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that unemployment in the country had dropped in recent years, and that the figures may actually be even lower than reported.
Luigi Citarella, the Chairman of Italy's Inter-Ministerial Committee on Human Rights, said the official statistics on unemployment did not correspond exactly to the real situation. That was, in part, because minors were inserted into the statistical pool, while they were often still involved in their studies. In some regions of Italy, there were a lot of young people employed without legal securities, so they were not officially registered.
Mr. Citarella's comments came as the Committee continued its consideration of the third periodic report of Italy on the measures taken by the Government to implement the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
The delegation responded to written and oral questions from Committee experts, and addressed topics ranging from, among others, employment, protection of disabled persons, prostitution, tension between people in the northern and southern parts of Italy, the country's high rate of industrial accidents and a shortened working week.
As one of the 143 States parties to the International Covenant, Italy is obligated to submit periodic reports of the measures it has taken to implement the provisions of the treaty.
The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. to conclude its review of Italy's report.
Discussion
LUIGI CITARELLA, the Chairman of Italy's Inter-Ministerial Committee on Human Rights, said in response to a question that there had been a decrease in unemployment since 1997. The official statistics on unemployment did not correspond exactly to the real situation. That was, in part, because minors were inserted into the statistical pool, while often they were still involved in their studies. In some regions of Italy, there were a lot of young people employed without legal securities, so they were not officially registered. This, to an extent, was a plague that the Ministry of Labour was trying to deal with.
Answering a question about the employment of disabled persons, Mr. Citarella said there was a general law concerning prohibition of discrimination against people with disabilities. There was also more advanced and positive legislation that encouraged industries to give jobs to people with disabilities. There was no special commission for the disabled, but the issue was under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Labour.
About unemployment this year, he said the positive trend continued. There were 14,000 new employees in Italy, which went along with the general improvement of the Italian economy.
Asked about the number of people involved in prostitution in Italy, he said it was difficult to estimate a figure but it could be less than the 25,000 mentioned. Many of them had come from Albania or other countries in the area and were without legal documents.
Questioned about rifts between the people from northern and southern Italy, Mr. Citarella said there was a difference in the social atmosphere in the north and the south, but that was not true as far as work was concerned. In northern Italy, about 50 per cent of the workers came from the south. The difference was social, not economical.
The delegation said, addressing the issue of occupational accidents, that the total number of accidents was rather high. The press, not just the Italian press but the European press, had written about this. A lot was being done, but it was not easy to cope with this issue. The main responsibility with this rested with the Ministry of Labour. It had the main responsibility of checking each place of work to see if it was in compliance. Smaller firms had frequent accidents.
Addressing labour conditions in Italy, the delegation said there was a set of rules in the Constitution concerning wages, conditions, hours of work, and things like that. The contracts made by the trade unions could not go against the general law, but they could go beyond it. There was now a trend towards a 35-hour working week, and Parliament said there should be a time limit of 35 hours. There had been a disagreement between the industrial associations and the trade unions. If 35 hours were applied as a general rule, there could be other advantages, including the possibility to lower the level of unemployment.
The delegation said that strikes were a serious problem in Italy. There was no legislation to stop or limit strikes, except that there must be a time limit between the strikes. Trade unions were free unions -- that was to say, in the field of public transportation, there could be a strike with the drivers of train and then another strike in that field. When that happened, the Government could issue a decree, and call the strike illegal because there could be serious damage to the public service. The old Government had tried to limit the strikes of public service. That old Government was the Government until the day before yesterday. It remained to be seen how the new Government would deal with strikes.
Questioned about a woman's equal access to work, the delegation said there was a law that provided for affirmative action to encourage access to employment so that there would be the same number of working men and women. The issue was relatively new in Italy. Now women could have access to Type 2 posts in the military structure and the military academies. The same law established the possibility of having state incentives to encourage women to set up their own small- or medium-sized enterprise. The Government would help provide seed money for this undertaking.
Asked if the tendency to work fewer hours in Italy would affect the economy, and then make it difficult to meet the obligations under the Covenant, the delegation said there would not necessarily be a reduction in the number of hours. The trade unions and the industry representatives would find an equilibrium. The final decision was not known yet. But in some fields, this time limit was already in place, and it had not had a negative affect on the country. It was known in France that the experiment had been introduced, and there were good results.
Addressing a question of violence against women, the delegation said there was a special law for the protection of women in the workplace, especially against sexual harassment. The number of offences against women were increasing steadily. Courts had helped with progress in this area. In 1999, the highest court in Italy had said a man who had harassed his wife could be punished by imprisonment.
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22nd Session
28 April 2000
Morning
A Government delegation from Italy this morning told the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that unemployment in the country had dropped in recent years, and that the figures may actually be even lower than reported.
Luigi Citarella, the Chairman of Italy's Inter-Ministerial Committee on Human Rights, said the official statistics on unemployment did not correspond exactly to the real situation. That was, in part, because minors were inserted into the statistical pool, while they were often still involved in their studies. In some regions of Italy, there were a lot of young people employed without legal securities, so they were not officially registered.
Mr. Citarella's comments came as the Committee continued its consideration of the third periodic report of Italy on the measures taken by the Government to implement the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
The delegation responded to written and oral questions from Committee experts, and addressed topics ranging from, among others, employment, protection of disabled persons, prostitution, tension between people in the northern and southern parts of Italy, the country's high rate of industrial accidents and a shortened working week.
As one of the 143 States parties to the International Covenant, Italy is obligated to submit periodic reports of the measures it has taken to implement the provisions of the treaty.
The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. to conclude its review of Italy's report.
Discussion
LUIGI CITARELLA, the Chairman of Italy's Inter-Ministerial Committee on Human Rights, said in response to a question that there had been a decrease in unemployment since 1997. The official statistics on unemployment did not correspond exactly to the real situation. That was, in part, because minors were inserted into the statistical pool, while often they were still involved in their studies. In some regions of Italy, there were a lot of young people employed without legal securities, so they were not officially registered. This, to an extent, was a plague that the Ministry of Labour was trying to deal with.
Answering a question about the employment of disabled persons, Mr. Citarella said there was a general law concerning prohibition of discrimination against people with disabilities. There was also more advanced and positive legislation that encouraged industries to give jobs to people with disabilities. There was no special commission for the disabled, but the issue was under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Labour.
About unemployment this year, he said the positive trend continued. There were 14,000 new employees in Italy, which went along with the general improvement of the Italian economy.
Asked about the number of people involved in prostitution in Italy, he said it was difficult to estimate a figure but it could be less than the 25,000 mentioned. Many of them had come from Albania or other countries in the area and were without legal documents.
Questioned about rifts between the people from northern and southern Italy, Mr. Citarella said there was a difference in the social atmosphere in the north and the south, but that was not true as far as work was concerned. In northern Italy, about 50 per cent of the workers came from the south. The difference was social, not economical.
The delegation said, addressing the issue of occupational accidents, that the total number of accidents was rather high. The press, not just the Italian press but the European press, had written about this. A lot was being done, but it was not easy to cope with this issue. The main responsibility with this rested with the Ministry of Labour. It had the main responsibility of checking each place of work to see if it was in compliance. Smaller firms had frequent accidents.
Addressing labour conditions in Italy, the delegation said there was a set of rules in the Constitution concerning wages, conditions, hours of work, and things like that. The contracts made by the trade unions could not go against the general law, but they could go beyond it. There was now a trend towards a 35-hour working week, and Parliament said there should be a time limit of 35 hours. There had been a disagreement between the industrial associations and the trade unions. If 35 hours were applied as a general rule, there could be other advantages, including the possibility to lower the level of unemployment.
The delegation said that strikes were a serious problem in Italy. There was no legislation to stop or limit strikes, except that there must be a time limit between the strikes. Trade unions were free unions -- that was to say, in the field of public transportation, there could be a strike with the drivers of train and then another strike in that field. When that happened, the Government could issue a decree, and call the strike illegal because there could be serious damage to the public service. The old Government had tried to limit the strikes of public service. That old Government was the Government until the day before yesterday. It remained to be seen how the new Government would deal with strikes.
Questioned about a woman's equal access to work, the delegation said there was a law that provided for affirmative action to encourage access to employment so that there would be the same number of working men and women. The issue was relatively new in Italy. Now women could have access to Type 2 posts in the military structure and the military academies. The same law established the possibility of having state incentives to encourage women to set up their own small- or medium-sized enterprise. The Government would help provide seed money for this undertaking.
Asked if the tendency to work fewer hours in Italy would affect the economy, and then make it difficult to meet the obligations under the Covenant, the delegation said there would not necessarily be a reduction in the number of hours. The trade unions and the industry representatives would find an equilibrium. The final decision was not known yet. But in some fields, this time limit was already in place, and it had not had a negative affect on the country. It was known in France that the experiment had been introduced, and there were good results.
Addressing a question of violence against women, the delegation said there was a special law for the protection of women in the workplace, especially against sexual harassment. The number of offences against women were increasing steadily. Courts had helped with progress in this area. In 1999, the highest court in Italy had said a man who had harassed his wife could be punished by imprisonment.
* *** *