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Italy’s Senate approves gay unions bill

A "super-amendment" to a civil unions bill was passed in a vote of confidence in the Senate on Thursday, paving the way for the contested bill to become law.

Italy's Senate approves gay unions bill
Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP

173 senators voted in favour, 71 against and none abstained. 

The bill will now pass to the Chamber of Deputies, but a final vote there, expected within two months, is seen as a formality. 

It was watered down after a controversial provision that would have allowed gay people to adopt their partner’s biological child was scrapped amid staunch opposition.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who made civil unions a cornerstone of his mandate, simply tweeted “Love wins”, before linking to a statement on his Facebook page.

He wrote on Facebook that today “will remain in the history of this legislature and of our country”.

“By requesting a confidence vote, we bound the government's very survival to a civil rights battle,”  he added. “It hadn't happened before, and it wasn't easy now. But it was the right thing to do.”

But the bill’s author, Monica Cirinnà, was less enthused, describing the vote as “a hollow victory”.

“It’s a first step, a victory with a hollow heart,” she was quoted by Ansa as saying.

“This is a very important measure but I am also thinking of the children of so many friends.”

Renzi's Democratic Party failed to push through a more robust version of the bill last week, after the Five Star Movement (M5S) withdrew its support at the last minute.

Italy is the last major country in western Europe not to offer gay civil unions, with close ties to the Vatican sinking all previous attempts.

 

 

 

 

 

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WORKING IN GERMANY

German steelworkers agree 6.5 percent pay hike after strike

Tens of thousands of steel workers in western Germany will get a 6.5-percent pay hike this year - the biggest jump in three decades - in a settlement that could set the tone for industry as inflation soars.

German steelworkers agree 6.5 percent pay hike after strike

The agreed increase would come into effect “from August 1st”, the IG Metall union in the region of North Rhine-Westphalia said in a statement Wednesday.

The 68,000 steelworkers in the industrial region would also receive a one-off payment of 500 euros for the months of June and July, the union said.

The outcome of the negotiations was “the biggest increase in wages in the steel industry in percentage terms in 30 years,” said IG Metall boss, Joerg Hofmann.

Germany’s largest union, IG Metall launched a strike action at steelworks in the west in May after management failed to meet its demands for an 8.2 percent pay increase.

On Thursday at the peak of the movement, around 16,000 workers across 50 firms downed tools, the union said.

READ ALSO: Should foreign workers join a German union?

“Rising inflation” and the “good economic situation” of the steel industry were the basis for IG Metall’s demands.

Consumer prices rose at a 7.9-percent rate in Germany in May, a record for the country since reunification in 1990 driven by the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

The smaller number of steelworkers in the east of Germany, who are also seeking an 8.2 percent pay boost, have yet to reach their own agreement.

Negotiations are currently taking place in a number of sectors. In the textile industry, 12,000 workers in the east of Germany sealed a 5.6 percent pay increase at the beginning of May.

Meanwhile, negotiations covering the auto industry, and mechanical and electrical engineering will begin in November.

Despite the agreed rise the onus was still on government to relieve the pressure on workers form rising prices “in the coming months”, IG Metall boss Hofmann said.

Significant wage demands have prompted concerns of a wage-price spiral, where rising pay sustains higher inflation.

The European Central Bank last week said it would raise its interest rates for the first time in over a decade this July as it seeks to stamp out price rises.

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