by InTrieste
Journalists across Italy are set to strike again this spring, escalating a long-running dispute with publishers over a national labor contract that has been expired for a decade.
The country’s main journalists’ union, the Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana, has called for two days of strikes on March 27 and April 16, underscoring growing frustration over wages, working conditions and the role of artificial intelligence in newsrooms.
At the center of the dispute is a contract that the union says has not been renewed in 10 years, during which time journalists’ salaries have lost roughly 20 percent of their purchasing power due to inflation. The union has described the situation as unprecedented, noting that journalists are the only professional group in Italy still waiting this long for a contract update.
The issue, union leaders argue, extends beyond pay. Sergio Mattarella, Italy’s president, has previously called the journalists’ contract “the primary guarantee of the freedom of Italian journalists,” a statement the union has repeatedly invoked in framing the dispute as one that touches on press freedom as much as labor rights.
Union officials contend that publishers, while benefiting from public subsidies, have reduced investment in newsrooms and increasingly rely on freelancers and contract workers paid significantly less than staff journalists. They also accuse publishers of encouraging early retirements, thinning editorial teams and weakening job protections.
A particularly contentious issue in negotiations is the use of artificial intelligence. According to the union, publishers have resisted efforts to establish clear rules governing A.I. in journalism, raising concerns that automated systems could replace human reporting rather than support it. The union has argued that such changes risk undermining both the profession and the quality of information available to the public.
Publishers, however, describe a sector under severe economic strain. Italy’s newspaper industry has faced years of declining circulation and advertising revenue, with digital income failing to offset losses from print. Media companies argue that existing labor agreements are outdated and too rigid, limiting their ability to adapt to a rapidly changing market.
From their perspective, renegotiating the contract is less an attack on journalistic independence than a necessary step toward sustainability in a transformed media landscape.
The broader context is not unique to Italy. Across Europe, news organizations have cut jobs as audiences shift online and technology reshapes how content is produced and distributed. The emergence of generative A.I. tools capable of producing basic articles at minimal cost has intensified pressures on both publishers and journalists.
Still, the union maintains that certain responsibilities cannot be set aside. Among them is compliance with regulations requiring compensation for journalistic content shared on digital platforms — an issue that has long been a point of contention between publishers and technology companies.
As negotiations remain stalled, the strikes highlight a deeper question facing the industry: how to balance economic survival with the preservation of professional journalism.
For many reporters, the concern is not only financial stability but also the conditions under which news is produced. The increasing reliance on freelance labor, combined with uncertainty over the role of automation, has raised questions about independence, job security and the future of the profession.
With no agreement in sight, the coming weeks may prove pivotal — not only for the outcome of the contract dispute, but for the direction of Italian journalism in an era of technological and economic upheaval.
