First Cisl held its National Congress in June 2025 and Riccardo Colombani was confirmed General Secretary.
The Congress was the special occasion to launch the strategic priorities of First Cisl for the present and future of the Italian bank and insurance sector, to face and manage the many challenges in a rapidly developing financial sector, challenges that are similar to those experienced in most European countries.
THE ITALIAN FINANCIAL SECTOR: AN OVERVIEW
The Italian banking sector has gone through a net reduction of nearly 80,000 employees over the last 20 years, with most of the redundancies managed through early retirements (entirely financed by the sector solidarity fund) and collective agreements at company level, which made it possible to hire more than 40,000 new young employees. A similar trend impacted the insurance sector, with the same collective approach, although within a more limited scope.
The announced new wave of mergers and acquisitions in the banking sector would deeply and further impact the employment levels, boosting workloads and lowering the quality of services offered to clients and firms.
The scenario also includes the bank branch desertification itrend, with more than 40% of Italian municipalities (which also means more than ten million citizens) without a physical bank branch, and the progressive use of artificial intelligence systems which have the power to radically transform social, cultural and economic relations, with potentially disruptive effects on labour and production. On this topic, First Cisl, together with the Fiba Foundation, has set up an observatory that collects data and monitors the phenomenon on a quarterly basis.
FIRST CISL STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
Employment
“Maintaining employment levels will be at the heart of our trade union action in the coming years – declared the General Secretary in his speech – An Employment Protocol is necessary to safeguard employment levels, to protect people, for professional requalification and for the psycho-physical integrity of workers”.
Remuneration
“At the same time, in a sector with still growing profits and unacceptable levels of CEOs’ remuneration, which range from 40 to more than 100 times an average employee’s wage, the remuneration level of employees must also be guaranteed! Beyond the safeguard of the purchasing power and the yearly productivity bonus negotiated at company level, the goal can be achieved through further participation tools: profit-sharing is a key instrument!”.
“Cooperative banks in particular have capital to grow and stem bank branch desertification. Comprehensive Protocols should be negotiated on a territorial basis involving local institutions to guarantee the access to quality services for private customers, with specific attention to vulnerable groups, and companies”.
Artificial Intelligence
“The financial sector social partners already agreed on the joint management of the digital transition (this is a current provision included in the sector collective agreement), it’s time to make this joint committee concretely operate!”
“The financial sector needs a Protocol to manage the use of artificial intelligence systems – said Riccardo Colombani – A joint approach to this transition is necessary, trade unions must play a crucial role in guaranteing equity and collective rights, proposing new rules and a joint governance”.
Participation
“A key word will lead our action: Participation! – commented Marco Berselli, who has now the political responsibility for First Cisl international activities – The recently approved new law on Workers’ Participation is both the final implementation of Article 46 of the Italian Constitution and a concrete boost for the collective negotiation of widespread forms of participation at company level: organization of work, consultation rights, economic and financial participation, governance!”
“The future of the Trade Union action starts from here, in strict cooperation with Uni Europa Finance and the European trade union partners” said Luciano Malvolti, who is confirmed as international coordinator.
