In Genoa , it’s strike today at the national museum venues: the USB union, after formally launching the mobilization last Dec. 23, 2025, has called an agitation for today, Tuesday, Jan. 6, at the venues of Palazzo Reale in Via Balbi and Palazzo Spinola in Piazza di Pellicceria. At the center of the dispute is the figure of assistants for protection, reception and supervision, who complain of a condition of structural suffering due to a staffing plan now reduced to less than half of the necessary personnel.
According to reports from the USB union representatives, only 45 percent of the planned units are currently on duty, a quota deemed insufficient to cover extended opening hours without exposing employees, visitors and the very integrity of the artistic heritage to danger. The workers’ criticism also shifts to the constitutional level, invoking Article 9 of the Basic Charter, which obliges the state to protect the nation’s historical and artistic heritage. For workers, this obligation cannot be guaranteed only through the promotion of major image events, but requires judicious day-to-day management that does not solely burden the individual efforts of surviving staff.
Staff demands are not limited to a call for new hires, but embrace a comprehensive overhaul of the management of Genoa’s cultural services. Among the priorities indicated are the need to calibrate access hours to the halls on the basis of actual internal staffing availability, as well as the demand for strict compliance with contractual rights related to shifts, vacations and weekly rest periods. A major point of friction also concerns the trend toward the outsourcing of institutional functions and the employment of volunteer figures, practices that the union is calling for to be discontinued in favor of a complete reinternalization of activities. The issue of professional training is also raised, which according to the union is de facto denied due to the inability to divert staff from supervisory duties for refresher courses.
The management of the National Museums of Genoa responded to these solicitations with an official note aimed at clarifying the terms of administrative management and future prospects. The museum leadership acknowledged the seriousness of the staffing shortage and said they regretted the pressure put on the workers currently on duty. However, the management was keen to point out that the Ministry of Culture has already initiated the necessary competition procedures to fill the staffing gaps. Specifically, it is awaiting the conclusion of a call for tenders that should lead to the hiring of 44 new units destined for the Ligurian territory, an intervention that is considered decisive in normalizing the situation in the coming months.
Regarding security procedures, the management stressed that every opening takes place in full compliance with a specific regulation signed in September 2024, a document that received the endorsement of the same trade unions and that defines the parameters necessary for the protection of people and property. The systematic use of volunteers or outside firms to ensure the ordinary opening of the Royal Palace and Palazzo Spinola is also denied. In cases where additional support was needed, as envisaged in the 2025 Enhancement Plan, the administration made use of other professionals within the Ministry, such as officials or assistants of different profiles, rather than relying on third parties.
A special distinction was made for the temporary exhibition dedicated to St. George, hosted at the Falcon Theater. Since these exhibition spaces are physically separated from the normal tour route of national museums, their supervision was entrusted to a service of regularly contracted security guards. In this specific context, the presence of volunteers from the Auser association is provided only in a support capacity and not as a substitute for the security staff.
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| Genoa, strike at National Museums over staff shortages. Management: soon to be filled |
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