Prato, Pecci Center fires two employees. Protests by unions and institutions

Turbulent hours at the Pecci Center in Prato: in fact, unions and institutions are sounding the alarm after two museum employees were fired on Monday due to budget problems. The Fondazione Arti Contemporanee in Toscana (Contemporary Arts Foundation in Tuscany), the entity that manages the Pecci, let it be known that the dismissal of the two workers falls in the context of a major review of the museum’s activities and resources . “We have tried to balance our responsibility to those who are employees of Fondazione Arti Contemporanee in Toscana with the need to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Center,” the foundation announced in a note. “We are aware of the impact that this decision has on the lives of those who worked here and on the team as a whole, but we want to ensure that we have acted with the utmost consideration for the well-being of the people and for the future of the Foundation as a whole, keeping our institutional stakeholders and trade unions updated in recent weeks. We understand everyone’s concerns and doubts, but we acknowledge, and have acknowledged personally and with great respect, the commitment and contribution these people have made to the Center. We also want to ensure maximum transparency and we remain at the disposal of the union representatives as well to give all the necessary insights.”

However, according to the unions there were failings on the part of the institute: “The procedure that for corporate reorganizations, according to the Federcultura national contract, provides for prior discussion with the unions,” said Alessio Bettini of Fp CGIL. “Also in the meeting at the end of July we had asked for a new confrontation to monitor the situation and the progress of the 2023 budget. Only in recent days did we receive a proposed meeting for August 28, without justification, which we asked to postpone. And just yesterday the layoffs arrived. By the way, in the last year new VAT collaborations and internships have been activated, precarious forms of work, which testify to the fact that there is a need for work and services at Pecci.” He is echoed by colleague Patrizia Pini of Uil Fpl: “We do not understand how a foundation such as Pecci that is supposed to promote culture does not respect labor relations and treats a dramatic issue such as job loss with such levity. We immediately took action with local institutions and ask for the intervention of the City and the Region to avert this scenario and obtain the revocation of the layoffs.”

Mayor Matteo Biffoni and Culture Councillor Simone Mangani also intervened in the case, asking for explanations from the foundation’s board of directors and calling for the opening of a discussion table, lamenting the fact that the decision “most fraught with consequences, namely the cutting of staff”, was taken by the Foundation’s board of directors without being shared with the Foundation’s partners, namely the City Council and the Region (so in fact this is a denial of what the Foundation said, according to which the process took place following interlocutions with institutional actors). The City and Region, say the first citizen and alderman, “have always taken a strong interest in the Pecci Center in every respect, including that of personnel, as well as on the front of financial support for the museum.” The management, they added, “is up to the board of directors, moreover in prorogatio, its president and director, it is up to them to explain a fait accompli. Now it is necessary to undertake negotiations with the unions to find a shared solution. Starting from one fact: no option can be ruled out.”

Regional councillor Ilaria Bugetti (Pd), chair of the Tuscany Region’s economic development committee, also confirms the lack of dialogue: “Of the layoffs that took place on the spot at the Pecci Center,” she said, “I was informed by the unions and the municipal administration. I immediately took steps to inform the president of the Region, Eugenio Giani, so that there could be maximum attention to this unexpected situation. What happened is a serious matter and all the more inadmissible since it takes place in a phase of prorogation of its representatives.” According to Bugetti, it is necessary to initiate a “broad and in-depth” reflection on the future of the museum, a reflection “that knows how to respond to and accommodate the prospects of a cultural institution of great prestige for Prato and Tuscany.”

In the background is the issue of public funding. The Pecci Center closed 2022 with a loss of 333,000 euros: within this framework, a cut in staffing(from 18 employees to 16) took place, precisely because of the need to reduce costs, despite the fact that Bettini of Fp CGIL made it known that, following a meeting with the Foundation’s top management held on July 31, the situation of the accounts would not have caused repercussions on personnel. Bugetti, for his part, reiterates that “the Region and the Municipality have never failed to support the institution. Despite the budgetary difficulties that as a region have forced us to cut contributions to various entities, Pecci is the one that has suffered the least. This is a clear indication of the attention that the Tuscany Region has had and still has toward this museum.”

Image: the Pecci Center in Prato. Photo: Michela Osteri

Prato, Pecci Center fires two employees. Protests by unions and institutions

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