Wage deal

Rome (Reuter) - The month- old government of Italy's Prime Minister, Giuliano Amato, trade unions and employers signed an accord on wage reform and labour costs.

The deal officially ended a system of automatic wage indexation which had been the cornerstone of Italian labour relations since the 1950s. 'It's an important event - very, very important,' Mr Amato said.

Trade unions have in the past fiercely defended the so- called 'scala mobile' system under which wages were regularly raised in line with increases in the cost of living.