Rai, circular against referendum and electoral commitment for employees and collaborators cancelled

«Not only from an economic perspective, but also from the perspective of working conditions, the provision in the contested parts penalizes and therefore discriminates against those who, by virtue of freedom of thought and association, express a legitimate opinion in their private life outside of work»: with this motivation the Labour Court of Busto Arsizio annuls the internal circular of Rai of 5 May, signed by the CEO Giampaolo Rossi , which imposed restrictions for all employees and collaborators who would have carried out referendum activities between now and 8 June.

This morning's newspaper Repubblica reported Rossi's letter, which was contested by Slc Cgil and the Andos association, both by a single worker applying in a municipality in the province of Rome and collectively for, precisely, discrimination.

Judge Franca Molinari responded to the class action by ordering "Radio Televisione Italiana spa to adopt with immediate effect the changes to internal communication (...) necessary to avoid the discriminatory effect".

Rossi's directive, contested by lawyers Carlo De Marchis Gómez , Matilde Bidetti and Silvia Conti , concerned the entire workforce of Rai, including self-employed workers or cococos. According to the CEO's wishes, those who are candidates, even in a small town, should have taken vacation or leave, or be on leave; but not only that, even those who were involved in the referendum campaign should have communicated it to the company, so that they would have been removed from the credits of the broadcasts. "The penalty that inhibits the fundamental right to freely express one's thoughts and to associate is objective," wrote the appellants.

The court agreed with him "with a clear ruling that - says the general secretary of Slc Cgil Riccardo Saccone - finally explains to Rai that respecting the rules in an electoral competition cannot translate into a suspension of workers' civil rights. It would be appropriate for Rai to take this ruling to heart: correctness and impartiality do not rhyme with silence and censorship. We expect the worker in Rome to be put in a position to work without being discriminated against as soon as possible in order to exercise her sacrosanct right. Just as we expect the public service to do its duty and finally inform the country about the referendums in June".

"With reference to what has been reported in the press about restrictive rules for employees and collaborators recently issued", Rai specifies that "these rules - created to protect the impartiality and objectivity of the public service - were already contained in the circulars of 2018, 2020 and 2022 on electoral consultations and referendums".

Rai continues: "The rules require that those who have accepted electoral candidacies must immediately notify the company: employees are invited to take vacation or other leave, paid or unpaid, until the day the polls close, while self-employed workers are invited to suspend their existing contracts. It should be emphasized, however, that in both cases, no one is forced to take vacation/leave or suspend their contract, as there is no legal provision that provides for such obligations."

The press release emphasizes: "In the case of the next referendum consultation, in particular, the recent circular does not contain - as in the past - any specific provision for workers who support the referendum committees, other than the invitations mentioned above. All this to protect the third-party nature of the company, with the aim of preventing employees/collaborators from influencing in any way, even surreptitiously, the free choices of voters".