Salary increases of 205 euros in four years, flexibility, growth of flexible benefits, guarantees to combat precariousness, training. The draft agreement for the metalworkers' contract signed by Federmeccanica-Assistant and the unions Fim, Fiom e Uilm It leaves both parties satisfied after four days of non-stop negotiations and a long and volatile 17-month dispute, characterized by over 40 hours of strikes and demonstrations.
Metalworkers: National contract renewal signed
At stake were the rules for the next three years involving 1,5 million workers in Italy, an important part of the country's collective bargaining system. Both unions and business associations have emphasized the contract's balance, which takes into account the needs of both parties: recovering from inflation, guarantees, and safeguarding the national contract on the one hand, and maintaining the competitiveness of the Italian production system, threatened by the duties, dear energy andgeopolitical instability.
In the joint note after the signing, the general secretaries of Fim-Fiom-Uilm, Ferdinand Ulianus, Michael DePalma e Rocco Palombella they thus underlined how "it was a very difficult negotiation, but we managed to overcome the distances and sign a good contract. We safeguarded the purchasing power of metalworkers and strengthened their rights and protections. The wage increase, the beginning of an experiment on reduction of working hours and the stabilization of precarious employment relationships were our cornerstones and we achieved them."
For Simone Bettini di Federmeccanica "Our intention has always been clear: to sign the contract, while keeping in mind the current situation, because the renewal of the National Collective Bargaining Agreement must always be contextualized, that is, adapted to the current reality," adding that the agreement respects "the two conditions that are essential for us: competitiveness and sustainability." And for Roberto Rossi di Assistel "The sense of responsibility demonstrated by all parties involved prevailed." This "allowed the reaching of an agreement based on balance and resilience.
Metalworkers: The wage increase in detail
The economic part therefore includes a increase of 205 euros for the entire duration of the contract: 177 euros on the minimum over the next three years (53 euros per month in 2026, 59 euros per month in 2027, and 65 euros per month in 2028), in addition to the approximately 28 euros already paid in June 2025. Flexible benefits will also increase from 200 to 250 euros per year, thus reaching a net sum of 1750 euros for each employee in the 2021-2028 period.
Then it is expectedextension to 96 hours per year for the multi-weekly schedule "to better balance workloads and simultaneously raise the limit between multi-weekly work and exempt overtime to 128 hours" and "Increase in collective paid annual leave from 5 days (40 hours) to 7 days (64 hours) per year for all workers and a corresponding reduction in individual leave. Fixed-term contracts may exceed 12 months in duration for specific reasons; from 2027, the reasons may be used if at least 20% of previous fixed-term contracts are made permanent. A term is therefore added to permanent temporary agency contracts.
