Amazon has signed the first nationally applicable company-level collective agreement in its history, covering all of its 57 sites in Italy. Concluded by ETF affiliates FILT‑CGIL, FIT‑CISL and UILTrasporti with Amazon Italia Transport and Amazon Italia Logistica, the agreement marks a historic moment for industrial relations between trade unions and the American logistics giant.
This breakthrough has been built directly on the historic 2021 protocol on industrial relations and represents its first natural evolution.
What the new agreement delivers:
On video surveillance and new technologies, the parties agreed a proper framework for the use of monitoring tools, harmonising rules that previously varied site by site and reinforcing safeguards for workers. Crucially, the use of camera footage for disciplinary purposes is now expressly prohibited.
On leave and work-life balance, both companies recognised conditions more favourable than the legal minimum. Parental leave can now be taken in increments as small as a single hour, giving parents far greater flexibility.
On serious illness, both companies adopted the relevant provisions from the general part of the sector agreement (the national sectoral Logistics, Freight Transport and Shipping CBA). This means that if a worker becomes seriously ill, they are guaranteed up to 18 months of pay at 100%.
The agreements also open space for territorial-level dialogue, allowing still for site-specific bargaining where local circumstances require it.
A shift: the normalisation of industrial relations
For years, Amazon globally has been remarkably successful in keeping its operations at arm’s length from collective bargaining. Regrettably, this is still the case in many sites across Europe. However, Italy bucks the trend and truly shows what is possible. That industrial relations with companies such as Amazon can and must be normalised
FILT‑CGIL, FIT‑CISL and UILTrasporti see this step not a conclusion but a new beginning for industrial relations with Amazon. as they have confirmed that talks will resume in the autumn to address further matters that are impacting workers in Italy.
The European lesson
This agreement is both remarkable and historic achievement. This national level agreement is the fruit of more than a decade of patient and determined organising work, as we have explored with our European affiliates in Italy last year. Ultimately it shows that industrial relations with Amazon can be normalised. It is clear to us more than ever that Amazon now should play by the rules in its European operations.
