Federalberghi and Filcams-Cgil in Florence signed a unilateral agreement for the provincial hotel industry with the intention of updating the existing regional collective agreement that came into effect in 2010. However, Fisascat-Cisl in Florence and Prato and Uiltucs Tuscany – Florence Area decided not to adhere to this agreement as they feel it lacks real advancements, on both a normative and economic plane, for the workers in this sector.
The trade union organizations had participated in lengthy negotiations, targeting concrete results on several priority matters. These included certainty in the application of the CCNL Tourism, barriers to outsourcing, protections in changes of contracts, strengthening of health and safety rules, countermeasures against gender violence and tools to facilitate work-life balance. However, they opined that the agreement did not provide clear and verifiable commitments on any of these fronts.
An additional point of criticism is the introduction of agreed seasonality. In an area like Florence, where most structures operate on an annual basis and seasonality is historically marginal, extending this without safeguards to protect employment threatens to exacerbate the structural precariousness of the sector, without equivalents in terms of rights or economic recognitions.
Fisascat-Cisl and Uiltucs highlight the contradiction: the same companies that complain about difficulties in recruiting qualified personnel then choose a contractual tool that does not focus on professional development or stability, but still pursues maximum flexibility at the lowest cost. In their judgment, making Florentine tourism more attractive requires the opposite direction: investing in the quality of employment, recognizing skills, and creating work conditions compatible with a decent life, including weekends and holidays.
The two unions have announced that they will focus their action directly in the workplaces, through targeted company disputes, to safeguard rights, security and occupation continuity in the sector.
