What are Welfare Funds (Casse Edili)? They are independent bodies founded in every province of Italy according to the rules of the national collective agreement signed by the Employers' Federation and the three national Trade Unions of the sector. The history of Welfare Funds is very long : the first was founded in Milan in 1919; the others mainly after the end of the second World War. Like the National Committee, each Welfare Fund (an autonomous body, as stated before) is managed by a joint board composed of representatives of the local building trade unions and contractors association. Although they are independent bodies created by local organisations, the structure of Welfare Funds and their most important functions are defined by the national collective agreement. The main activity - which was the basis of the foundation many years ago - is to receive every month a part of the salary from firms, which is destined for the payment of holidays (20 working days per year) and of the thirteenth monthly salary paid at Christmas. The sum received by the Welfare Funds and then by the workers is now 18.50% of the monthly salary of each worker. Second activity: in May every year, the Welfare Fund gives the workers another important part of the wage, which is calculated according to length of service in the sector and the amount of work done by each worker over the previous year. The most significant fact is the connection of this part of the salary with the length of service of the worker in the whole sector of building industry, irrespective of the length of service with any particular firm. In Italy, at the moment, about 90,000 firms and more than 700,000 workers are registered at the Welfare Funds. In the province of Catanzaro, Crotone, and Vibo Valentia about 2500 firms and more than 11,000 workers are registered.