The final contract for Central Functions 2022-2024, involving around 195,000 employees of ministries, tax agencies, and non-economic public bodies, was recently signed. The contract includes a salary increase of €165.00 per month for 13 months, approximately 6% of the salary. This would allow retroactive recognition of about €1000 from now until December 2024.
Other highlights of the agreement include the experimental introduction of a shorter week, where the required 36 hours of work are condensed into 4 days, the enhancement of remote work through uniform regulations for meal vouchers and increased flexibility in choosing days to work remotely, and changes to organizational positions, such as the right to appointment for officials with more than 8 years of service. Furthermore, the contract introduces two additional hours of leave for employees over 60 for medical visits, therapies, and diagnostic tests.
Despite these changes, labor unions Fp-Cgil, Uil Pa, and Usb Pi decided not to sign the contract, as they believe that the salary increases do not offset the greater impact of inflation recorded in the reference triennium. According to them, the total inflation recorded for 2022, 2023, and 2024 is 15.4%, and the contract’s resources are only 5.78%. Therefore, although they produce slightly higher adjustments, they do not even recover the inflation.
Labor unions also note that with the enactment of the new contract, employees will experience a definite loss in the value of their salary from 2021 (the expiration year of the previous contract) to today, ranging from €146.51 per month for an official, €120.65 per month for an assistant, and €114.62 per month for an operator.
Additionally, the increases declared in the contract, due to the contractual holiday bonus and advances already paid by the government, will result in actual monthly increases of a minimum of €47.22 for a former Area III F7 official to a maximum of €80.33 for a former Area III F1 official.
Regarding regulatory aspects, exiting unions believe that the shorter week provision is not beneficial for workers, as it does not reduce the weekly working hours but compresses them into 9 hours a day, creating a much denser week at the expense of caregiving work.
