Contract: Italian journalists are on strike today.

The National Federation of the Italian Press, the union representing journalists, has called a strike for today. We publish the full statement from the FNSI, followed by the response from the Italian Federation of Newspaper Publishers (FIEG).

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Today, Italian journalists are on strike. We're striking because our employment contract expired 10 years ago and, above all, because we believe that journalism, a fundamental pillar of the country's democratic life, hasn't received the attention it deserves from Fieg's publishers: numerous cuts and little investment, despite millions of dollars in public subsidies.

Over the past ten years, the reduction in editorial staff and the reduction in journalists' salaries through crisis situations, layoffs, early retirements, and contract freezes have had a profound impact on pluralism and citizens' right to information. Over these ten years, the number of employed journalists has decreased, but the exploitation of freelancers and temporary workers has increased dramatically: paid just a few euros per story, with no rights and no future.

Over the past 10 years, the purchasing power of journalists' salaries has been eroded by inflation, by almost 20% according to ISTAT. This is why we are calling for a raise in line with those of other collective bargaining agreements. Publishers have proposed a paltry raise and called for further cuts to the salaries of new hires, thus unacceptably deepening the generational divide in newsrooms.

We're not making this a corporate battle. We believe that truly free and plural information, with democratic control, requires authoritative and independent journalists who cannot be financially blackmailed.

We demand a new contract that protects rights and embraces information with new digital professions, regulating the use of Artificial Intelligence and obtaining fair compensation for content shared online.

We want to encourage publishers to look to the future without continuing to undermine the present. If Fieg truly cares about professional information, it must invest in technology and young people, who cannot become low-cost intellectual laborers.

He owes it to us journalists, but above all he owes it to the citizens protected by Article 21 of the Constitution.

National Federation of the Italian Press

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Contrary to what the union claims, publishers have made significant investments over the last decade to protect both the quality and freedom of information and journalistic employment.

In a dramatic context in which companies saw revenues halved, layoffs were prevented by resorting to industry regulations, and this was always done with the union's approval.

In recent years, the traditional media business model has had to contend with unfair competition from over-the-top platforms (such as Google, Meta, and others), which exploit editorial content by retaining the majority of advertising revenue and data. This has weakened the financial sustainability of publishing companies, which, however, have responded responsibly and rigorously, rising to the challenge of innovation without resorting to drastic measures.

Companies also want a new contract.

To address the current scenario, we must promote innovation and seize the opportunities offered by technological evolution and the digital information system, with a cost structure compatible with the sector's new dynamics. The national labor contract should serve as a tool for competitiveness.

However, during these months of negotiations, we have been faced with a union that has refused to address either the comprehensive modernization of an antiquated contract (which still provides for payment of former public holidays abolished by a 1977 law) or the introduction of more flexible rules to encourage the hiring of young workers, preferring instead to limit itself to exclusively financial demands aimed at recovering the alleged wage losses recorded over the last decade.

Although inflation was offset during the aforementioned period by the percentage-based salary increases provided for in the contract, the Publishers offered significant financial compensation, higher than that granted in the last renewal in 2014, despite the absence of any contractual innovation.

With regard to employees, it is important to note that the companies operate in full compliance with the compensation set forth in the 2014 agreement signed with the union. In this regard, Fieg has consistently expressed its desire to improve the current contractual agreement, but, on this issue too, it has been unwilling to engage in dialogue.

Regarding artificial intelligence, it is reiterated that the solution cannot lie in introducing restrictive rules on its use, destined to be quickly overcome. Rather, companies need an ethical approach, with the possibility of adopting Codes that protect both the journalistic profession and readers.

To address the challenges of the immediate future, publishers are ready to do their part, continuing to invest in their products and in enhancing professionalism. They hope that discussions can take place more realistically and without prejudice.

Italian Federation of Newspaper Publishers