Uffizi Staffers Protest Mass Layoff of Part-Time Workers
44Jan. 9, 2026
Roughly one hundredUffizistaffers staged a demonstration in the courtyard of the venerable Florence institution on January 4, protesting an effective layoff of the museum’s casual workers spurred by a change in service managers. Unfurling a large banner reading “Basta Vite Precarie” (“Enough with Precarious Life”), the protesters used flags and bright green flares to bring attention to their cause. The demonstration was organized by the Sudd Cobas trade union.
At issue is a September 2025 contract change that saw the museum replace its service manager of nearly twenty years, Opera Laboratori Fiorentini, with competitor CoopCulture. The contract with CoopCulture stipulated that permanent staff would retain their jobs, but made no such provision for the temporary employees, most of whom work nine months out of the year. Staffers let go included those assigned to security, reception, ticketing, the bookstore, and the cloakroom; some who lost their jobs had worked atthe Uffizifor more than ten years.
An Uffizi spokesperson told the Art Newspaper that because the museum was run by the state, it could not directly employ staff and instead had to rely on culture ministry tenders. “For seasonal or temporary workers not retained by the new concessionaire, the museum can only exert moral suasion,” said the spokesperson. CoopCulture told the publication that it had acted “in full compliance with the provisions of the tender notice.”
“The truth is that these workers should have had permanent contracts long ago,” said Sudd Cobas in a press release. “It’s impossible to justify the incredible abuse of temporary contracts in one of the world’s most important tourism industries.”
The Uffizi, which comprises Gallerie degli Uffizi, the Palazzo Pitti, and the Giardano di Boboli, is the most visited museum in Italy, attracting five million visitors in 2024 and generating €60 million ($70 million) in annual revenue. Sudd Cobas said that a group of union representatives and workers is expected to meet with Florence City Councilor Dario Danti in coming days. The union additionally appealed to Tuscany’s regional government for support and called for Uffizi director Simone Verde, who commissioned the contract, to take a “strong stance” on the issue.