Theatre: dispute over the contract. Strike at La Scala on 20 October
The theatre sector’s trade unions have announced a workers’ strike, the details and date of which are yet to be confirmed. A meeting with the theatre management is taking place today at the Piermarini.
Key points
The meeting between the trade unions and Superintendent Fortunato Ortombina is scheduled for this afternoon at 4.00 pm. The aim is to avert the strike called by Slc-Cgil, Fistel-Cisl, Uilfpc-Uil and Fials, together with all the trade union representatives at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, for 20 October, which would jeopardise the premiere of ‘Faust’, conducted by Daniele Rustioni.
The bone of contention is the renewal of the single collective agreement which, as La Scala has been an opera foundation with its own statutes since 2014, is the subject of specific negotiations involving Piermarini staff, distinct and separate from those concerning workers in the performing arts sector.
The national theatre protest
However, the protest by the La Scala staff is intertwined with that of all workers in the performing arts sector, who – already in a state of unrest – have called for a strike by theatre workers, the details of which will be finalised at the joint coordination meeting to be held on 14 October. The trade unions and Federvivo (the theatre representatives’ body) met yesterday to discuss the renewal of the national collective agreement for theatres and contracted staff, which expired in 2021. ‘Given the contractual term proposed by the other party for the three-year period 2027–2029, this would cover a period of almost nine years without adequate financial recognition for workers in the sector,’ denounce Slc Cgil, Fistel Cisl and Uilfpc-Uil – “This situation is all the more serious when one considers that the minimum daily pay for contract workers, based on an average figure, is just over 71 euros gross, including ancillary pay.”
Federvivo responded by setting out the proposal made to the trade unions in detail: ‘For contract staff, a 20 per cent increase in daily allowances, with immediate effect; a 20 per cent increase in the minimum pay scales over three years (10 per cent in the first year, 5 per cent in the second, 5 per cent in the third), with effect from 1 January 2027. For permanent staff: a 20 per cent increase in daily allowances, with immediate effect; an 18 per cent increase in minimum pay scales, spread over three years from 1 January 2027; an increase in the number of biennial seniority increments from 5 to 10’. The association also stated that it was ‘willing to continue working towards a swift conclusion to the renewal negotiations, with due regard for both workers and businesses’.
Scala calls for a 15 per cent pay rise
In Milan, the dialogue continues, despite everything. The trade unions, meeting in assembly on Monday, reaffirmed the contents of the press release dated 7 October, in which they expressed a negative view of the progress of the negotiations for the renewal of the single collective agreement and criticised the lack of concrete responses to the demands set out in the trade unions’ platform, starting with a 15 per cent increase in the Ral for all staff, with effect from January 2027. The assembly voted by a large majority to call a strike for 20 October, ‘as a further mobilisation initiative to give weight to the workers’ demands and urge the Foundation to provide concrete responses’, according to the joint statement issued by the trade unions.
