"It is time to think of a new workers' statute." This was stated by the president of the CNEL, Tiziano Treu, opening the conference entitled "From the autumn of discontent to the workers' statute" promoted by the Buozzi Foundation, the Di Vittorio Foundation and the Giulio Pastore Foundation in collaboration with the Committee for anniversaries of national interest. This conference officially opened the celebrations of the 50th Workers' Statute in the year of the anniversary of the autumn of discontent, which, starting from October 1969 brought millions of workers to the streets, asking for the regulation of employment relationships.

"The Law 300 of 20 May 1970 is, from a conceptual point of view, still of great relevance and forces us to jointly think about how to update it - continued Treu - It was a law that was born from a long and troubled political and social confrontation, which started in June 1969 when the Council of Ministers announced the presentation of the statute bill in Parliament. The Workers' Statute was born from the thrusting force of the workers of the large factories in the North who asked for better working conditions and respect for individual rights and freedoms also within the companies. Today the context has changed a lot, companies have taken different forms, networked, divided into chains of international suppliers, or even operating through digital platforms. The work is in many cases dispersed and fragmented. We need to think of new rules: for the protection of jobs, not only subordinated but also autonomous; for the support of union activity; for the erga omnes effectiveness of collective agreements; for establishing criteria of representativeness of the social players. These are the urgencies to renew the spirit of the Statute".

The choice of Villa Lubin for the launch of the celebrations of one of the most important laws of our country is strongly symbolic, because CNEL was the scene of the main meetings between the social players. Gino Giugni was the author of the text of the law strongly desired by the minister Giacomo Brodolini who had laid its foundations with the establishment of a national commission for the drafting of a measure to protect workers. Among other things, Giugni in 1983, as a CNEL adviser, wrote, together with Luigi Mengoni, a document of Observations and Proposals for the revision of the employment relationship legislation. A fundamental text on the subject.

The conference was attended by the historian Simona Colarizi, Aldo Carera, Stefano Musso, Gian Primo Cella and Cesare Annibaldi. The conclusions were entrusted to Giorgio Benvenuto. "The initiatives for the 50th anniversary of the Workers' Statute are not only celebratory but an opportunity for reflection on a fundamental moment in our history, the way in which our country was able to transform a great wave of protest into a proposal for change and of greater democracy, freedom and even growth," said the Senator. 

“The Workers' Statute contributed significantly to the transition from an agricultural country to an industrial country, a growth that was also social, leading to a greater awareness of one's rights but also of one's duties. That initiative serves currently as a guide because we are in a period of epochal changes - Benvenuto added - We must rediscover the spirit of the Workers' Statute, of the social solidarity that arose from it. The choice of CNEL to start this path is not accidental. The intermediate bodies, far from being out-dated, play a fundamental social role. If we need to change, we have to know what the expectations of the social players are, and through them those of the people and categories they represent. The CNEL, which is the key place for listening and dialogue between social and productive forces, allows you to better write the laws and to involve people in decision-making processes. In such a new world, dialogue is fundamental, solidarity is decisive, agreed and good results for all can only be achieved through dialogue".