On Saturday, 22 November 2025, industriAll Europe affiliates FIM, UILM and FIOM concluded a renewed collective agreement benefitting 1.5 million workers in Italy’s metal industries. This agreement delivers significant improvements in wages and job security, including:

  •  A raise in the minimum contractual wage of €205 per month, to be adjusted in June 2025, 2026, and 2027.
  • An increase in flexible benefits from €200 to €250 for welfare services.
  • Safeguards against unexpected increases in consumer prices.
  • Employers’ commitment to combatting precarious employment and job insecurity.
  • Experiments with working time reductions overseen by a dedicated commission.
  • Reduced hours for workers on the most disadvantaged shifts, with an option to use up to three days of time credit for recovery in unexpected situations.
  • Strengthened participation of union representatives on health and safety issues.
  • Protection for female workers against violence.
  • More specific protocols for actions to fight gender discrimination.
  • Expansion of joint planning spaces for professional training.
The commitment to tackle precarious work aims to counteract changes in the Italian labour code over the past decade. Measures include limiting temporary employment and improving pathways to stable employment, ensuring that fixed-term workers receive regular employment contracts after 12 months, and agency workers in staff leasing after 48 months.

The general secretaries of FIOM, FIM, and UILM, Michele De Palma, Ferdinando Uliano, and Rocco Palombella, declared:

“It was a very painful negotiation, but we overcame our differences with our counterparts and signed a good contract. We have safeguarded the purchasing power of all metalworkers and strengthened their rights and protections. The wage increases, the reduced hours trials, and the limitation of precarious employment were our cornerstones, and we achieved them. We have preserved a collective agreement that has faced constant attacks. This renewal will ensure metalworking families a dignified future and, at the same time, strengthen the companies bound by it. Italian metalworkers continue to shape the country’s history during a period of huge industrial challenges that demand lasting solutions.”

IndustriAll Europe’s Deputy General Secretary, Isabelle Barthès, praised the resilience of the Italian unions and the broad impact of the agreement for metalworkers.

“We applaud the stamina of our Italian members in the face of employers’ delaying tactics and reluctance to negotiate. Now that they have secured a major win by concluding this agreement, we hope it will help ease the cost-of-living crisis and promote decent employment in one of Europe’s leading manufacturing countries.”


read the press release here