Italy’s Meloni says ready to discuss minimum wage with opposition

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday she was ready to discuss minimum wage proposals with what she termed responsible opposition parties.

Meloni, who took office in October last year, has frequently ruled out introducing a minimum wage in the past, saying it was not the right way to increase Italy’s chronically stagnant salaries.

“The issue of wages interests me, there is (a part of) the opposition that behaves in a responsible, polite, serious way,” Meloni told Rtl 102.5 radio on Tuesday, adding it was right to show a willingness to have a dialogue with them.

A report this month by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) showed real wages in Italy had fallen by 7.5% at the end of last year compared to the pre-pandemic period in 2019, marking the steepest decline among the world’s major economies.

Opposition parties have tabled several bills in parliament to set a minimum hourly wage, with the 5-Star movement led by former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte pushing for a figure of nine euros before taxes.

Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party is proposing to postpone any formal debate on the issue until September to see if common ground can be found in the meantime.

“I have doubts about the minimum wage scheme because it makes nice headlines but risks creating problems,” Meloni said.

“There are (separate) national collective contracts in Italy that provide for a minimum wage higher than nine euros. What are the chances that, if applied, the minimum wage becomes a parameter for lowering workers’ wages?” she added.

Most developed countries have a statutory minimum wage, and the scheme counts among its supporters the outgoing head of Italy’s central bank Ignazio Visco, who said in May that it could be a response to valid “demands for social justice.”

The government has adopted several steps to cut taxes on wages and plans to set aside around 10 billion euros ($11.07 billion) in next year’s budget to extend these measures.

($1 = 0.9038 euros)