Flc Cgil, school workers have lost 21 thousand euros in 6 years

In six years - between 2022 and 2027 - each school worker has lost and will lose more than 20 thousand euros, 21,507 to be exact, adding the deficit in purchasing power year by year, on average 3,585 euros per year, 276 euros on average every month, while the contractual increases cover less than half of inflation. Over 4 thousand euros per year are missing when fully operational in 2027. Those who work in education have among the lowest salaries in the public sector, -18.81% compared to the average for the entire PA, equal to over 7 thousand euros less, -21.29% compared to those who work in ministries and -27.27% of those who work in healthcare, despite the fact that the entry qualification is a degree for all. And Italian teachers are among the lowest paid in Europe too: -16.2% compared to France, -27.8% compared to Spain, in Germany and the Netherlands they earn more than double.

The data comes from a substantial dossier "Knowledge below cost" on the salaries of school, university, research and Afam staff made known today by Flc CGIL during a press conference. The study shows that Italy is last in terms of spending on education: with 8% of total public spending in 2024 against the 9.7% of the EU average, we are in last place.

We will spend 4% of GDP in 2024 compared to 4.8% in the EU and over 6% in Belgium and Finland. For the realignment of wages when fully operational, from 2027, the union will need a total financing of 6.8 billion euros gross.

The temporary workers in the school are then counted at 302 thousand with fixed salaries for 7-8 years. "An emergency that requires a political turning point: we need a multi-year investment plan that adds to the normal contractual allocations and fills the gap. In this budget law we need to give the signal linked to the gap between resources and inflation which has soared. This is a government hostile to schools, universities and higher education and the students are rightly protesting; the CGIL launched a strike on 20 November and we believe that these two struggles, of the students and school staff, will part of a single dispute.

Even the precarious employment numbers give a sense of failure: 1 worker in 4 has been precarious for too many years", states the Flc Cgil secretary, Gianna Fracassi.

Even on the university front the situation is not rosy: Italy spends about half of Europe on university while the increases only cover half of the inflation due to which on average a worker loses 2,596 euros a year.