Tuscany: General States of Culture, an observatory and a table to protect entertainment workers.

Workers in the world of entertainment were at the center of a day of study and debate organized by the Education and Culture commission in collaboration with the trade unions in the context of States General of Culture.

'Working in entertainment: what protections?' it is the theme that animated the discussion and the interventions of the speakers.

The participants received a greeting from the President of the Regional Council who spoke of indispensable professionals to whom the institutions must give concrete answers.

To summarize the morning's work, the president of the Education and Culture commission proposed an in-depth study to be entrusted to Irpet, the Regional Institute for Economic Planning of Tuscany, for a snapshot of the sector of workers in the entertainment world.

Two proposals emerged from this first meeting with trade unions and the National Social Security Institute. The activation of a regional observatory, which also deals with gender issues and correct behavior in the workplace, and the opening of a permanent table, also with the regional departments involved, for a more political discussion that can lead to interventions regulations and policy documents to improve the conditions of workers in this sector. With the aim of guaranteeing greater protection and more resources.

Also because, the president of the Fifth Commission underlined, culture is an investment and not a cost and a change of mentality is needed.

Many ideas offered by the interventions of the trade unions Luisa Baldinetti, national representative of the Communication Workers Union of the CIGL, spoke about work “discontinuous and easily blackmailed and with different qualifications that have a difficult classification” and proposed the opening of a unified entertainment desk managed by INPS, on the French model, with all services managed together.

"Our aim – added Maria Cristina Arba of the SLC CIGL wide area Florence, Prato and Pistoia – is to understand how to help very particular workers compared to the rest of the audience we represent. The idea that came to us is to prepare, with the Tuscany Region, an observatory protocol on the world of entertainment, to try to map and understand the context well and consequently find targeted policies that we as unions can do”.

Per Angelo Betti of the Federation of Information, Entertainment and Telecommunications of the CISL, it is necessary to find an alternative to the discontinuity allowance “which is not used by workers because it is more penalizing than Naspi, the monthly unemployment benefit. The problem is the calculation of the day system, when it is known that a production always requires fifteen to thirty days of preparation. And that should be the minimum contract length. The minimum number of annual days required by law should also be lowered."

Massimiliano Bindocci of the Italian Union of Communication Workers of the UIL underlined that “The discontinuity allowance is not of much use, because it starts from the wrong concept of creating a further social safety net. We need a different allowance that goes beyond the concept of hours worked and resources are needed, Italian politics must decide to invest in art and entertainment. The form is wrong, but the resources put into it are also insufficient. The French one is the model to follow, while in Italy a handout has been made that concerns 20% of those who work in entertainment. With an average of one thousand five hundred euros per year”.

A valuable analysis contribution has arrived from the INPS regional management on the legislation regulating the discontinuity allowance.

Many are self-employed and their services are fragmented and discontinuous.

There is no form of unemployment or redundancy provision for them and this has emerged dramatically during the pandemic.

For the first certain data on the discontinuity allowance we will have to wait at least until September 30th when the INPS will finish evaluating the requirements of the applications submitted by March 30th.

A criticality that could be overcome by making a self-certification on income must not exceed 25 thousand euros. The limit of the minimum number of working days required each year must also be exceeded, which is now sixty.

Critical issues that INPS hopes can be remodulated. The news also came from the INPS regional management that the inspection bodies will soon be leaving again and this will lead to greater monitoring and control.