Following a five-hour party meeting on Monday, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi secured support for broad-brush proposals which will, supposedly, extend jobless benefits, cut the number of short-term contracts, boost the roles of employment agencies, and reduce job protection for permanent workers, reports Reuters. 

The most contentious of the reforms was the reduction in protection for permanent workers. Mr Renzi told party leaders: “You can’t create jobs by defending rules of 44 years ago; you create it by innovation.”

The current job protection measures, outlined in Article 18 of the Workers’ Statutes, guarantee that employees dismissed without justification must be reinstated.

Article 18, while the focus of most of the protests against reforms, was largely dismantled by previous Prime Minister Mario Monti two-years ago. There were reported to be fewer than 3,000 workers who benefitted from the law last year.

The specific detail of the reforms remain uncertain though one of the key proposals, according to La Gazetta del Mezzo Giorno, is to simplify the labour market by eliminating many of the current myriad of work contracts and introduce a single employment contract with job protection measures growing with seniority. The act also aims to establish a national employment agency that would take care of handling social security cushions and reintegrating unemployed workers into the labour market.

Facing a third recession, kick-starting the labour market has been the focal point of Mr Renzi’s reforms. In August, the then six-month old government was hit by a series of economic setbacks; including a third recession in six years, a one-year low in business confidence, and an unemployment rate climbing to just shy of a record high.

Last month, he promised that he would force through changes to the country’s labour laws with special emergency measures if Parliament dragged its feet. Mr Renzi’s reforms have found support in the form of Adecco CEO Patrick De Maeseneire.   

Despite this recent success, Mr Renzi continues to face strong opposition from trade unions. Last month, Italy’s largest trade union confederation (CGIL) announced that it was challenging the labour reforms passed by the government earlier this year. CGIL said it had petitioned the European Commission to take action, as the reforms allegedly break European law by encouraging firms to hire temporary workers rather than permanent.

Following his comments in Parliament on Monday; Susanna Camusso, Head of CGIL, warned Mr Renzi that the union was ready to go on strike it he did not change course.