GOVERNMENT'S UNEMPLOYMENT PROPOSALS CRITICIZED

The Government encourages jobless to seek job or lose subsidies and discourages early retirement.

CGIL leader, Coffferati, said he 'does not see anything positive in these proposals' and is in total disagreement with implications that high unemployment in Italy is due partly to a lack of good will in looking for and adapting to jobs.

The three major unions reminded the government that the different forces in the country have contrasting views on how to tackle the unemployment problem and that this often results in compromises that take nowhere.

As a result of these reactions Premier D'Alema distanced himself from what he called 'an interesting set proposals'.

This upset the center-left majority that promotes opening up the labor market, and argues that the work market is changing and moving steadily towards short-term jobs, while unions are static on permanent jobs with a high level of protection. Right-wing leader, Berlusconi, chided Premier D'Alema for being Blair's right arm on the one side and the unions' prisoner on the other.

While the market is becoming more modern, labor rules and institutions must change accordingly.

Unions fear, however, that if they give too much ground on labor regulations, the only result will be the elimination of all the protections they have obtained in the last decades.