The FP Cgil Lombardia, with the coordinator Antonio Alì and the regional secretary Dino Pusceddu, describe the decidedly critical situation of the workers of the local authorities and promise a hard time to reach the necessary turning point
19 Apr. 24 – The situation experienced by workers in the regional school offices of Lombardy is decidedly critical.
“First of all, it always remains there shortage of staff and, to follow, the problems related to personnel management. Also because of a ever-increasing workloadcolleagues and colleagues complain about situations of stress and of continuous pressure. In fact, some people go to the office and feel bad. The climate is toxicthere is anything but the organizational well-being that is flaunted in the various explanatory reports of the Ministry of Education”, says Antonio Alì, FP Cgil Lombardy coordinator.
How come?
“This is due to various issues: both because of the management which, many times, uses excessive discretion with the staff and in a way that is inconsistent with the contractual provisions, and because of the work overload. Added to this is the problem relating to the use of the new application for personnel management”.
Let’s start with the application.
“It’s called Infinity. It should have simplified the procedures and instead it made them more complex not only for those who have to deal with the management part (absences, holidays, leaves, etc.) but also for the workers themselves when they have to make requests relating to their employment relationship. In fact, they now have to operate in self-service mode (from a PC, mobile phone or tablet) to ask in advance, for example, for permits or recovery of hours (and these are all contractual institutions) but in the application – which does not provide for many cases – , these mentioned are not present and must be requested via email. And, therefore, you have to wait for the manager’s approval. In short, everything becomes longer and more complicated, a paradox! And if these requests are denied we are faced with a breach of contract – notes the regional coordinator -. The theme also applies to the management of school staff who work in our offices – he adds -. We ministerial staff have a calculation of holidays and permits for the calendar year, they have them for the school year, so if they wanted to take holidays at the beginning of January they couldn’t, as they haven’t yet accrued. A further gap for Infinity. Not only is there already so much to do but an extra load is being placed on it. I define as ‘saints’ those who deal with these tasks and try to patch up this poorly functional application which has certainly not achieved the purpose for which it was purchased”.
Let’s get to the management.
“Some managers, at times, have arbitrary attitudes, interpreting rules and contracts with rather bizarre limitations, such as the fact that holidays and leave cannot be combined with smart working. The staff expects a change of mentality and a collaborative attitude from them, also in order to be recognized for their commitment. To meet deadlines, colleagues also work outside of working hours and are rewarded with an attitude of mistrust! – Ali comments -. We expect the Administration to recognize greater protections and provide positive feedback in terms of time flexibility. Instead there are even difficulties in providing meal vouchers.”
Let’s go back to the staff shortage.
“In Lombardy it is around 70-80%. A very high percentage. Without staff seconded from the school, many of our offices would close, and several are already at risk. It would mean not being able to start the school year. In Sondrio, to give another figure, 5% of the staff are ministerial, 95% are school staff. The issue of employment reinforcement and generational turnover, moreover, is becoming increasingly serious: while workloads become increasingly heavier, the age and stress of workers also increase. And the younger ones, if they arrive, soon run away.”
Other issues?
“This 2024 is an even more particular year, where various obligations are added, in addition to the ordinary ones: for example, the provincial rankings for substitute teachers will arrive, which have a biennial deadline, the ’24 months’, which has an annual deadline, the ATA personnel, which expires every three years, and the competitions are about to end. Everything falls on the administrative staff and all procedures are always concentrated in the summer period, causing difficulties and stress for the livelihood of colleagues. When, I repeat, we already work much more than we are supposed to, even until 9 or 10 pm, and with little recognition both in terms of remuneration and in the application of work-life balance institutes. The Administration seems really ungrateful in all this. People are not numbers, times and methods must be agreed upon. As – Ali continues – we demand correct trade union relations. Lately the Administration has been going its own way, involving the unions little both in terms of discussion and information. The workers ask for a peaceful working environment, with recognized rights”.
Dino Pusceddu, secretary of FP Cgil Lombardia with responsibility for Central Functions, declares: “In the Superintendencies of our region we are witnessing a paradox – he states –: due to the scarcity of staff assignments and the renunciations of the competition winners, more than half of the workload of these offices falls on staff seconded from the school. They are workers who live in a precarious situation precisely because their assignment is precarious, renewed, if it goes well, from year to year. A situation that certainly doesn’t help either the internal climate or the operations of the offices.”
The cause?
“It must be sought in general, in the salary situation of the Public Sector, where the salaries are not enough to guarantee a dignified standard of living, in particular, in the situation of the Superintendencies where we witness an incomprehensible attitude towards the staff – Pusceddu replies -. Male and female workers are poorly valued, they are assigned functions that do not correspond to their level of classification and, last but not least, even the most widespread work-life conciliation measures envisaged by the national contract are denied. Then we are surprised if new hires give up their jobs or if we report stressful situations. All this must change and we, alongside the staff, will be a continuous incentive for the Administration, reporting every anomaly that is reported to us – he assures -. As well as continuing to fight for a contract renewal that recovers what has been lost due to inflation in the last three years.”
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Tags: Lombard school offices reality surpasses imagination
