"Dialogue with a wide-ranging objective: the growth of the country. So certainly security, and then welfare, contractual model, representation, training, productivity, transitions, demography. I am confident that a table can be opened soon, I have perceived positive signals from the union. The season is ripe'.

There are many topics that Maurizio Marchesini, Confindustria's vice president for labour and industrial relations, touched upon in an interview with Sole24Ore ahead of Workers' Day.

The vice-president said he 'fully shared' the words of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, 'on the importance of dialogue between the social partners, which was, Mattarella said, a flywheel of social, civil and economic progress'. "Especially at this time of great uncertainty," explained Marchesini, "the social partners have been a driving force for social, civil and economic progress. businesses and trade unions, together, can give important answers on the emergencies that need to be addressed to make the country grow. I hope that a phase of meetings will start again and that this will be useful for the world of work. It would be a good way to celebrate the First of May'.

This year's slogan is 'United for Safe Work'.. Therefore, 'we have some proposals that we will present at the table. Those who live in the factory, entrepreneurs and workers, know from experience what needs to be done. It is a priority to intervene in SMEs, where there are more cases of accidents. The reference model could be the one developed during Covid, which has proven to be solid and effective. We have not been making progress for years, we need to prevent accidents and to do this we need more training. Unspent funds from Inail could be used for this. We must increase real security, not bureaucracy'.

On the subject of wages, for Marchesini 'the industrial relations model must be reviewed, it is too slow in accompanying transitions, it is one of the topics to be discussed at the table. The data are an average, analysing them it emerges that in industry wages have grown and recovered from inflation, despite the fact that compared to other countries such as France, Germany and Spain productivity in us has fallen. Other sectors lag behind, such as the public sector. Furthermore, action must be taken to prevent the application of unsuitable and unrepresentative contracts and link wages more closely to productivity. On the understanding that productivity is due to a complex of factors, inside the factory, but also outside, from infrastructure to logistics to the efficiency of the public administration'.

The vice president recalled that 'businesses are central to growth and prosperity. There is another worrying element: despite the drop in industrial production, employment is holding up, which means a drop in productivity. We must react and dialogue with the trade unions is essential. The demographic issue, the effects of which we are already feeling, transitions, and the revival of investments must be addressed: data shows that productivity increased during the period when Industry 4.0 was in forcewhich has fostered a strong digitisation of the industrial system'.

In conclusion, Marchesini said he was 'confident' about the table with the trade union: 'that it can start soon and that a balance can be found between the interests that each of us represents, with the objective of the common good'.