Industrial relations
National collective labour agreements (CCNL) apply to all Snam workers (the Energy and Petroleum Industry Agreement for the transportation, storage and regasification segments, and the Gas and Water Agreement for distribution).
Snam guarantees all workers the right to freely express their thoughts, join associations and engage in union activities. In 2013, 50.75% of employees were members of a trade union.
Special meeting spaces are provided for conducting union activities, and workers enjoy dedicated leave, as provided for by current regulations and the applicable industry agreement. All workers can submit topics of interest to them to the unitary union representative bodies (RSU), which are periodically replaced through elections.
In 2013, 240 meetings took place with the trade union organisations; a high number of meetings, at both national and local level, is a feature of the relationship between Snam and these organisations. A participatory model was favoured within the negotiations at every level; this was formally defined with the signing of a new Industrial Relations Protocol by the parties on 17 October 2013.
An Employment Protocol was also signed in October 2013, as part of the process of Group integration, reorganisation and consolidation, which is designed to take advantage of all possible structural synergies and to improve the qualitative/quantitative mix. The Protocol provides for the use of the management instruments described in the current set of rules, and specifically the relocation, pursuant to Articles 4 and 24 of Law 223/91, of 300 people in total, 150 of whom Snam will insert into the Group’s operating units during the three-year period.
Snam’s Industrial Relations Protocol
This is a highly innovative document, the first of its kind formulated by Snam, which governs the system of negotiations between the parties in all their forms. It is intended to simplify the system and bring it further in line with the national and international framework for such negotiations, and is based on the shared goal of pursuing the Company’s objectives with tools that prevent conflict and favour the development and promotion of a culture of staff involvement. As well as remodelling the national and local agreement levels in respect of the CCNLs applied, the Protocol established:
- The Snam Industrial Relations Committee, comprising representatives of Snam’s General Management and the national secretaries of the trade union organisations signing up to the Protocol, as well as three employee representatives designated by each signing trade union organisation. The Committee introduces information mechanisms on matters relevant to the economic and energy scenario and, in general, relating to the development of Company policy;
- The Study Commission, which aims to identify new profit-sharing models in line with the framework regulations. The Commission comprises six representatives, including one for each signing trade union organisation and three representing the Group companies;
- The Health and Safety Committee, comprising representatives of the Snam General Management and members identified by the national secretaries of the trade union organisations.
The Protocol also stipulates a time schedule for setting up the European Works Council, pursuant to Legislative Decree 113 of 22 June 2012 (implemented by Directive 2009/38/EC), as a result of its most recent acquisitions in Europe.
The Protocol also describes training as a cross-cutting theme for all Group employees – since they represent strategic resources for the Company – developing professionalism and skills to keep pace with the changes in the business and thus making a consistent investment in training activities in the next few years.
The importance of education
The new textbook purchasing service was launched for Snam’s employees in 2013. The service, which can be accessed via the welfare portal on the intranet, gives all Group employees the option of purchasing primary and secondary school textbooks at an average discount of 10%, paid in monthly instalments taken directly from their salaries. The ministerial textbook database has been incorporated into the service, so that parents can identify the specific school that their children attend and select the right books for purchase. The initiative not only enables staff to make financial savings but also to cut down their shopping time, as the purchase process takes place online and the textbooks are delivered directly to their homes.