Nella risposta il Ministro afferma che le “scelte prospettate da tali aziende appaiono irragionevoli rispetto all’andamento economico di un settore, quello farmaceutico, che non è stato assolutamente penalizzato dalla crisi pandemica”. Ha assicurato “l’adozione di ogni idoneo intervento al fine di tutelare i lavoratori delle imprese farmaceutiche menzionate”.
Di seguito l’interrogazione e la risposta del Ministro.
Al Ministro del lavoro e delle politiche sociali – Per sapere – premesso che:
The long hours of negotiation between the social partners and the headed Ministry on overcoming the redundancy block were of little or no use;
l’avviso siglato avrebbe impegnato le aziende ad esaurire l’utilizzo degli ammortizzatori sociali che la legislazione vigente e il neo approvato decreto legge 73/2021 c.d. “Sostegni – BIS” provide as an alternative to the termination of employment relationships, with a view to promoting and strengthening social dialogue as an indispensable tool for managing and overcoming serious periods of crisis such as the one experienced due to the pandemic;
a protection which, however, did not concern the 52 Pharmaceutical Representatives (DPS) reached on 5 July last by the communication of the start of the collective dismissal procedure by Takeda Italia SpA, as well as the 32 DPS recipients of a similar communication dated 6 last July, signed by the company Mylan Italia Srl which announces the activation of a similar procedure;
the reasons underlying the measures in question reside in the need expressed by the companies in question to implement a radical organizational reorganization justified, in their opinion, both by a change in the methods of management and promotion of the products on the market, and in the execution of the work itself due to the spreading of the pandemic;
but this does not correspond to reality, in fact, the pharmaceutical supply chain has recorded data in total contrast with the negative trend of the economy as a whole, demonstrating that the pharmaceutical sector, faced with the challenge of Covid-19, has managed to grow, feeling less others of the current recession so much that it could become one of the driving sectors of Italy's post-pandemic recovery;
all the more reason, the category of ISF cannot pay such a high price due to the absence of a single contractual framework, which places these professionals employed by the scientific service of the company to which they belong, a service which, as envisaged by art . 126 of Legislative Decree no. 219/2006, is mandatory for each company that holds the AIC of medicinal products and has nothing to do with the marketing sector and therefore with the logic of profit -:
whether the Minister questioned is aware of the facts set out in the introduction and, consequently, whether he intends to set up a corporate crisis table, at the head of the Ministry, which sees the direct involvement of the aforementioned pharmaceutical companies in order to guarantee effective protection for the category of drug sales representatives and avoid the previously announced collective redundancies.
The answer:
As regards the facts highlighted by the questioner, the Lombardy Region reports that on 6 July 2021 the Mylan Italia Srl company., based in Milan, has effectively communicated the opening of a collective dismissal procedure for 32 employees, structurally made redundant, belonging to the external network that operates throughout the national territory and assigned, from an administrative point of view, to the Milan office .
Nell’avvio della procedura la società – riferisce ancora la Regione Lombardia – ha dichiarato, in sintesi, che la Società è coinvolta in un progetto di trasformazione organizzativa richiesto dal Gruppo, che ha fatto emergere la necessità di rendere più efficiente la struttura, anche attraverso una riorganizzazione delle divisioni che appaiono non adeguatamente dimensionate e che necessitano di una struttura più razionale che garantirà la medesima copertura e capacità di penetrazione nel mercato.
With reference to the company Takeda Italy Spa., the same Lombardy region communicated that, on 5 July 2021, the company started a collective dismissal procedure for 52 redundant workers at the Rome office. These are scientific representatives who operate in several regions.
Si fa presente che la società è un’azienda biofarmaceutica globale e leader di settore, che collabora con gli operatori sanitari e le istituzioni per consentire l’accesso a farmaci innovativi, con circa 50.000 dipendenti e una presenza in oltre 80 Paesi. In Italia ha sede legale a Roma e stabilimenti a Pisa e a Rieti per la lavorazione del Plasma.
The choices proposed by these companies therefore appear - as highlighted by the honorable questions - unreasonable with respect to the economic trend of a sector, the pharmaceutical sector, which has not been penalized in any way by the pandemic crisis and which is undoubtedly one of the driving sectors of the economic recovery.
It should also be noted that the Government has launched multiple measures in favor of this sector, due to its strategic nature, which emerged very clearly during the health emergency.
I recall that a table has been set up at the Ministry of Economic Development to explore the issue of vaccine production. Furthermore, the assessment of Italy's interest in participating in an IPCEI (Important Projects of Common European Interest) dedicated to the Health sector within the European Union is underway. The aim is to equip the European pharmaceutical industry with resources for research and development of vaccines, drugs and innovative devices in order to avoid the supply problems in the future, which have occurred with the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.
In addition, the decree-law n. 73 of 2021, the so-called Sostegni bis, currently being converted, provides for measures to support the sector, aimed at strengthening research, development and industrial reconversion of the biomedical sector towards the production of innovative drugs and vaccines to deal with emerging pathologies at a national level .
In particolare, accanto a tali misure incentivanti, è stato sostenuto uno sforzo importante per continuare a sostenere – attraverso l’accesso ai trattamenti di integrazione salariale – i livelli occupazionali delle imprese, in vista di una ripresa sostenuta del ciclo economico e in concomitanza con i poderosi investimenti del PNRR.
In conclusion, I consider it necessary to guarantee the Ministry's commitment to monitor the evolution of the dismissal procedures currently in progress, ensuring the adoption of any suitable intervention in order to protect the workers of the pharmaceutical companies mentioned.
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