By Giulio Piovaccari and Rodolfo Fabbri

MILAN/ROME (Reuters) – Italian unions on Monday demanded a wage rise of 8.4% for next year to offset rising inflation as they prepare for official talks with industrial groups Stellantis, Ferrari, Iveco and CNH Industrial.

The request could pave the way for similar requests in wage bargaining in Italy, while companies across all Europe from airlines to retailers face demands from workers for major pay rises to cushion the impact of soaring prices.

Consumer prices rose 8.9% year on year in Italy in September.

In France, Stellantis agreed last month to pay a one-off bonus worth up to 1,400 euros to most of its employees to help them cope with surging inflation. Talks on a pay settlement for next year are yet to start.

Workers at France’s TotalEnergies are seeking a 10% pay rise starting this year, while in Germany union IG Metall in July demanded a 8% wage hike for around 3.8 million workers in the metal and electric industry.

PLAYING CATCH-UP

Italian unions FIM-CISL, UILM, Fismic, UGLM and AQCF are preparing to negotiate new four-year contracts to replace ones that expire at the end of 2022 at the four industrial groups.

They cover almost 70,000 workers in Italy, two thirds of them at the former Fiat-Chrysler, which last year merged with France’s PSA to create Stellantis, whose brands also include Peugeot and Jeep.

Labour representatives are also demanding wage increases of 4.5% for 2024 and 2.5% for 2025, the unions said in a joint statement, adding that reliable inflation estimates were not yet available for 2026.

Salary increases will have to be paid at the start of every year to allow workers to fully compensate for the impact of inflation in the previous year, unions said.

Gianluca Ficco of the UILM union said that requests would change if inflation estimates change.

“We need to start talks as soon as possible to achieve a timely contract renewal,” Ficco said, presenting the proposal to union delegates in Rome, who will have to approve them on Oct. 18-19.

Spokespeople for Stellantis and Iveco said they would not make any comment until unions have filed a formal request, in coming days or weeks.

The Agnelli family’s holding company Exor is a major shareholder in carmakers Stellantis and Ferrari, truckmaker Iveco and agricultural and construction machine maker CNH Industrial. All four groups share the same specific basic contract for most of their Italian employees.

This is separate from a national contract for workers in other parts of the metal and mechanical sector.

(Writing by Giulio Piovaccari, editing by Gianluca Semeraro and Keith Weir)