Historic first time at Italian stock exchange, con Business Square who has decided for the first strike ever for the day of Thursday, June 27, 2024. In fact, starting from 3.30 pm, the group’s employees decided to fold their arms and take to the streets. There are no precedents and the stop will be valid for the next two hours, that is until 5.30pm when the trading closes.
The trade union organizations Fabi, First Cisl and Fisac Cgil decided in unison to mobilize for two hours to give a clear signal. And nothing seems to be able to convince them to give up.
The Italian Stock Exchange on strike
There is always a first time, even for unthinkable scenarios (or in this case protests). Piazza Affari had never stopped to strike, but what will happen at 3:30 pm on Thursday 27 June is the precedent that everyone was waiting for. Between continuous threats, from both sides, of seeing the protest fail, in the end the employees decided to cross their arms, stopping everything at the Stock Exchange.
From 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., the closing time for trading, the strike will take place, the first in the history of the Italian Stock Exchange, destined to go down in history. The demonstration, which has been carefully considered, is motivated by the worry for the moving of the decision-making center to Paris by Euronextthe federation of European stock exchanges that manages several financial centers, including the one in Milan.
They 800 employees present in the Italian economic capital are not there, fearing that this could undermine the historical importance of Piazza Affari.
The extent of the strike and the membership rate, but Euronext does not foresee significant disruptions in market operations, considering that the systems are automated and integrated on a unified trading platform, called Optic. Complications may arise in the event of server crashes or other technical problems
The reasons for the protest
The reason for the strike is therefore “the constant, systematic and overall disinvestment from Italy by the Euronext Group, and the emptying from within the Italian structures”, the unions say. But basically there are four reasons.
The first concerns the deep worry on employment stability in Italy, as Euronext “continues to refuse to provide guarantees and to undertake shared paths to protect jobs and enhance existing professional skills”, the unions specified.
Another theme concerns the salary issue, as the increases requested for years (despite the new collective bargaining agreements) continue to fail to arrive. The third point then concerns the discomfort with work organization with the use of overtime, Saturday, holiday and even night work almost systematically, combined with an unsustainable management of availability.
The last element is linked to the theme of governance and the “progressive loss of management and strategic autonomy of the Italian companies of the Borsa Italiana group”. “Given the national importance of the market infrastructure, we note a progressive transfer of the strategic direction of the Group outside of Italy, and a shift of top roles to other geographical areas of the Euronext group”, the unions underline.
In addition to the suspension of work activities, the protest also includes the blocking of availability and overtime in the following days until July 14th.
