Agreement on the public sector pay deal: a €162 pay rise

An agreement on the new collective agreement for the 205,000 employees of ministries, tax agencies and non-economic public bodies has been signed at ARAN. The agreement includes an average pay rise of €162, new rules on the use of artificial intelligence, the possibility of increasing the value of meal vouchers, and greater clarity on pay during holiday leave. But, above all, the agreement delivers the decisive blow in making up for the historic contractual backlog in the public sector, and sees the signing of a full agreement for the first time (the previous one in April, concerning schools, covered only the financial aspects) for a sector over the three-year reference period, as the contract covers 2025–27.

“This is clear evidence that the public administration can operate in a modern and efficient manner, whilst adhering to the rules and deadlines it has set for itself,” says the Minister for the Public Administration Paolo Zangrillo. “Signing a contract during its term of validity is proof of orderly, timely bargaining that serves the interests of workers,” adds ARAN President Antonio Naddeo immediately after the third agreement in four years on the central public administration sector.

 “It takes two to make a deal,” adds Naddeo. And from this point of view, it is important to note the broad support for the agreement, which has also received the green light from the CGIL, leaving only the USB out of the list of signatories. “We have fought for significant reforms,” claims CGIL FP General Secretary Federico Bozzanca, highlighting in particular the ex-post verification mechanism designed to measure any negative discrepancies between actual wage trends and inflation. The CISL, through its General Secretary for the Public Service, Roberto Chierchia, speaks of a ‘historic milestone’, which delivers ‘an average increase of 12 per cent’ in cumulative terms under the 2022–24 agreement. UIL FP General Secretary Rita Longobardi explains that the acceleration “goes in the direction we have always advocated at the negotiating table: guaranteeing workers all available resources immediately, without waiting for the end of the three-year contract period”, and highlights the new rules on holiday pay, which will also cover shift allowances “thanks to the favourable rulings obtained by UIL FP at the Courts and Courts of Appeal of Turin and Rome”.

Among the ‘numerous proposals accepted’, FLP General Secretary Marco Carlomagno lists ‘the introduction and strengthening of leave entitlements for participation in cancer screening as a preventive health measure, the recognition of skills certification, and the strengthening of organisational roles and tools for the professional development and recognition of civil servants’. Among the ‘many positive developments’, Confsal Unsa General Secretary Massimo Battaglia highlights ‘a strengthening of industrial relations, the first regulations in the public sector on the use of artificial intelligence, and the introduction of a break for mental and physical recovery’. ‘The introduction of clear rules on artificial intelligence is one of the most significant developments in this contract renewal,’ emphasises Claudia Ratti, General Secretary of Confintesa FP, ‘because it recognises that technological innovation cannot proceed without adequate safeguards for those working in the public sector.’