Elly's fight: she snubs Orsini and launches a bill against involuntary part-time work.

Last Friday, when Confindustria president Emanuele Orsini entered the Tiburtina studios to participate in the industry forum organized by former Democratic Party minister Andrea Orlando, Elly Schlein had already left over an hour earlier. It was a matter of agenda, her staff explained. And there's no reason to doubt it. Another point is equally certain: the Democratic Party secretary is keen to maintain a defensive profile. Elly is more of a fighter than a leader. Always ready to choose between capital and labor, between bosses and employees. And it doesn't matter if certain distinctions sound a bit old-fashioned to some. This is also why yesterday Schlein launched a new Democratic Party bill, destined to remain a waste of paper, but good for providing a certain atmosphere. After the legal minimum wage, reduced working hours for the same pay, and equal leave, here comes the new law against involuntary part-time work which, the secretary thundered, "condemns millions of women to a condition of poor work, from which they cannot escape."

Meanwhile, also to quell some internal grumbling, Schlein will be attending the CISL congress today. This is an attempt to heal a rift that has quietly festered in recent months with the Catholic union, and it also allows Schlein to send a signal to those within the party who accuse Nazareno of excessive subservience to Maruzio Landini and the CGIL. The new CISL secretary, Daniela Fumarola, was among those who last week rejected the industry forum promoted by Orlando. A rift has been brewing between the Democratic Party and the CISL for some time. This was cemented, above all, by Schlein's party's abstention from the law on worker participation in corporate life. This decision clearly revealed the distance from the total commitment that Nazareno has instead dedicated to the referendums promoted by the CGIL. It is no coincidence, precisely for these reasons, that in recent months former Secretary General Anna Maria Furlan left the Democratic Party group in the Senate to join Italia Viva.

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