Unlimited subcontracting, incentive for "empty boxes", for companies existing
only on paper, exploitation of male and female workers and risk of criminalinfiltration by Stefania Baschieri ---- If the previous Draghi government had theleitmotif the logic of the simplification of procedures to speed up theimplementation times of the PNRR projects, with the risk of mistakingsimplification for deregulation, the current Meloni government has the mantra of"not to hinder those who want to do", and what this should mean was clearly seenin the legislative decree on public procurement approved by the Council of Ministers.In fact, this decree introduces important changes with respect to the enablinglaw 78/22 and to the provisions of the Council of State in this regard, changeswhich, in the logic of acting quickly, and above all of letting those who "wantto do" do it, will produce an inevitable deterioration in delicate situationssuch as the question of safety in the workplace by eliminating a whole series ofguarantees for workers which, also as a result of interventions and positionstaken by the union, had been recognized in the previous enabling law. The firstthing, perhaps the most aberrant, is the introduction of the so-called "CascadeSubcontracting". In this regard it should be remembered that European legislationdoes not provide for limits on subcontracting so much so that with respect toItaly, where up to 2020 there isThe Draghi government first raised the ceiling to 40% and then eliminated itcompletely. The new code does not limit itself to confirming the elimination ofthe ceiling, but introduces the so-called "cascade subcontracting" i.e. thesubcontracting of the subcontracting of the subcontracting etc.... with the soleexception of the services explicitly indicated by the contracting authoritiesamong those which "may not be subject to further subcontracting".So even in public construction, as it is in private construction, there will beunlimited subcontracting and the long and fragmented chain of subcontractors thatwould arise, in order to achieve economies of scale, would be a clear incentiveto "empty boxes", businesses that exist only on paper, increasing gray areas, theexploitation of male and female workers and the risk of criminal infiltration;but above all it would make compliance with health and safety standards in theworkplace complicated, if not impossible.AND THIS IN A COUNTRY WHERE I LOVE WORKING EVERY DAY, AND A LOTAnother modified point concerns the conflict of interest. In fact, the provisionaccording to which "the contracting authorities provide for adequate measures tocontrast, prevent and effectively resolve any hypothesis of conflict of interestin carrying out the procedures for awarding contracts and concessions" iseliminated. All that remains is the provision that whoever is in conflict mustnotify the contracting station (??!!) thus setting aside also the role of ANAC,the national anti-corruption authority.The return of the so-called "integrated contract" is then confirmed, i.e. theassignment of the design and execution of the work to the same subject, alreadyenvisaged by Berlusconi's objective law, brought back to life with some stakes byConte 1 with the decree Sblocca cantieri and confirmed by Draghi's simplificationdecree. In this regard, the text issued by the Council of State limited it to"complex works contracts" and to works of an amount exceeding a figure to beestablished, and the text issued by Minister Salvini eliminates all those limits.This means that the contracting authority will have to take into account the"risk of any cost deviations in the execution phase compared to what iscontractually foreseen" given that when the designer and the executor coincidethe price during construction always tends to rise with the game of the variants.Furthermore, the new article 62 establishes the possibility for all contractingstations to proceed directly and independently with the acquisition of suppliesand services for an amount not exceeding the thresholds established for directassignments, i.e. 140,000 euros, and with the assignment of works for an amountnot exceeding 500,000 euros. Before, the thresholds were respectively 40,000 forthe acquisition of goods and services and 150,000 for works. Beyond those figuresit was necessary to obtain qualification. Clearly this also leads to a greaterpossibility of corruption and criminal infiltration.On the problem of the increase in raw materials, then, the decree provides for anautomatic adjustment, but does not take into account that inflation impacts boththe material for the works and the wages of the workers who carry them out.One cannot think of buffering the "expensive raw materials" by effectivelycutting wages: this principle was recognized by the parliament but nothing isenvisaged in the approval of the decree that also covers wage increases. It isevident that these choices further worsen the working conditions of workers whoare already heavily penalized because it is clear to everyone that those who workin contracts are faced with increasingly precarious, insecure work paths and withfewer and fewer rights.We will therefore never tire of repeating that it is precisely the logic ofprocurement that must be rejected, a logic which is the consequence of theprivatization processes of public services and which responds to a precise desirefor ever greater deregulation of work which in turn produces exploitation,reduction of rights and insecurity by denying dignity and value to work and workers.https://www.veliber.org/archivio/IlCantiere/A3/cant_2023_14/files/cant_2023_14.pdf_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten