The budget law for 2025 was published in the Official Journal on
December 31st. Like every year, even if with different governments, thecommon thread was the same: unloading the costs onto the working
classes, pensioners, the unemployed, in short, the less well-off
classes. But of course the Meloni government wanted to do something of
its own by intervening in an already complicated social situation with
an attack on welfare, assistance, healthcare. After all, the Minister of
Economy and Finance Giancarlo Giorgetti had covered his tracks by
warning at the time that the resources were limited, even if he should
have specified that they were such only for social spending while they
were available for other types of intervention. And in fact, in the
recent past, the funds against poverty had already been reduced by one
billion. This while in Italy, according to official data released by
Istat, about ten percent of people are in a situation of absolute
poverty. In fact, in 2023 - the latest overall data from the Institute -
over 2.2 million families (8.4% of the total) and almost 5.7 million
individuals (9.7%) were considered to be in absolute poverty, while over
2.8 million families (10.6%) and 8.5 million individuals (14.5%) were in
relative poverty. It should be noted that in the absolute poverty
bracket, the share of families where there are reference people who are
workers or similar, who therefore have a salary but not enough to live
in an acceptable way, is increasing. The maneuver, totaling 30 billion
euros, naturally in line with the European stability pact, provides for
the coverage of greater revenues - partly hypothetical - in addition to
the famous "loan" of 3.4 billion by Banks and Insurance Companies, to be
repaid later, and cuts of 3 billion in the budgets of Ministries,
Regions, Local Authorities (part of a broader reduction of resources in
the three-year period 2025/2027 for over 13 billion). After the cut to
the citizen's income flaunted at the time by the government and wages
decimated by the latest inflationary flare-up, we are going through a
contractual season that sees limited wage increases and a progressive
closure by the employers (see the metalworkers' dispute). In this
situation, the budget maneuver only contemplates the confirmation of the
cut in the tax wedge on wages, a measure that although extended up to
40,000 euros gross does not actually provide for increases in the
paycheck because it is already present in 2023/2024 and that, acting on
tax deductions, also constitutes a round trip for the loss of resources
on the public services front, starting with schools, transport and
healthcare. And healthcare itself sees a heavy defunding of the national
health service - which among other things will prevent the hiring of
many of the 30,000 missing operators - with the consequence that people
who can afford it will increasingly turn to private healthcare (where 46
billion euros were spent in 2023) while the others will give up on
prevention or even treatment. The same fate for schools with a strong
defunding that will lead, according to the forecasts of the trade union
Flc-Cgil, to a cut of about 3800 teachers in 2025 and 2200 ATA in 2026.
In compensation for private and state-funded schools, 50 million are
expected in two years and a deduction per student of 800/1000 euros for
expenses incurred (overall not a lot, but what counts is the signal:
cuts are made in the public sector, incentives are given to the private
sector). Here too, for contractual increases, scarce resources that
should lead to a maximum increase of 6% in the CCNL still to be renewed,
in the face of inflation that had been 18%. But some change, in the true
sense of the word, is also left for pensions that see a revaluation of
0.80% for payments within four times the minimum, with a balancing
payment expected (perhaps...) at the end of 2025. On the other hand, no
changes to the Fornero law - the electoral battle horse of Salvini's
League - while incentives to stay in work until 70 years of age are
strengthened, a goal towards which all European governments are more or
less clearly tending. Furthermore, for those who entered the world of
work since the beginning of 1996, therefore with the completely
contributory system, the possibility is given to accumulate mandatory
and supplementary social security to access the pension with 64 years of
age and 25 years of contributions, instead of 20, if the pension accrued
is equal to three times the amount of the ordinary social security
benefit. In the meantime, on January 9, the Cgil announced that INPS had
changed the pension requirements on its portal, with an increase in the
age for early retirement due to life expectancy, so that from 2027 43
years and 1 month of contributions would be required, and from 2029 43
years and 3 months. For the old-age pension 67 years and 3 months in
2027, 67 years and five months in 2029. This, which logically caused
much controversy, was later denied by an embarrassed Claudio Durigon,
undersecretary of state, member of the Northern League and former UGL
unionist, who assured that there will be no increase in the retirement
age. We'll see. But the bad news doesn't stop there because 3.88 billion
are being diverted from the development and cohesion funds - which, if
they wanted, could have been used for something useful, such as the
disastrous local public transport - towards the company for the "Bridge
over the Strait", an infrastructure that is as useless as it is
expensive and devastating for the environment, but never cancelled as a
project even by previous governments and today strongly desired by
Minister Matteo Salvini. The chapter for military spending also
increases by three billion, the first part of an overall investment of
35 billion from now until 2039 which is probably underestimated due to
the expected large renewal of armaments, while in the meantime support
for the war industry increases, the sale of weapons to Israel for the
ongoing wars, and the supply of weapons, ammunition, war equipment to
Ukraine, which should be renewed for the whole of 2025.
Therefore a series of class-based economic and political measures that
unload the cost of the maneuver on dependent work and pensions - from
which almost 90% of Irpef revenues derive - while the Government
protects all those sectors considered to be of reference through the
defense of financial income, the non-taxation of the huge profits of
banks and insurance companies, the flat tax for the self-employed. Faced
with these measures there was a mobilization and a general strike that
involved the majority of the grassroots unions, the Cgil and the Uil, on
the same day, even if with different platforms and demonstrations given
the distance in political approach that separates these organizations;
strike that even if it has not produced significant changes in the
budget maneuver remains a positive moment of participation and common
mobilization of the working class. This is something that should be
reflected on given that the government's attack continues on multiple
fronts and using all the tools, from the conscription of personnel in
transport strikes to the economic maneuver, from the Ddl 1660 to better
repress dissent and demonstrations in the future, to the increasingly
invasive militarization in schools and in general among young people, up
to the intervention in ongoing wars. To respond to this situation, a
vast mobilization is needed with the help of all available forces for a
battle that unites the world of work as much as possible, and not only
this, and that sees as objectives the fight against military spending,
the defense of spaces for political action and against repressive
maneuvers, together with the just demands on wages, reduction of working
hours, pensions, precariousness, safety at work, redistribution of
wealth from income and profits to work and the welfare state.
http://alternativalibertaria.fdca.it/
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