Bologna, Pinacoteca Nazionale workers protested in front of the museum on Christmas.

Singular Christmas Day protest in front of the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Bologna: a completely unprecedented garrison in terms of motivation and timing, because as far as anyone can remember never before had museum workers mobilized on Dec. 25. Ministerial staff occupied yesterday the portico on Via delle Belle Arti, where the entrance to the Pinacoteca is located, from 9 a.m. to noon on Christmas morning to protest theextraordinary opening for the holiday season strongly desired by Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano, and also to solidarize with colleagues hired by the museum through Ales SpA, the in-house company of the Ministry of Culture.

Several Ales workers will in fact suddenly find themselves transferred from the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Bologna to other workplaces, mainly outside the region. According to the mobilized workers, the notice of the impending transfer came with very little notice (namely on December 19) and concerns eight of the current nine Ales employees working at the museum: four will be moved to Florence, three will remain at the Pinacoteca until the end of February in anticipation of a later transfer to a location to be defined, while one had already seen her request for a transfer to Rome approved; the ninth worker was on a temporary contract and will not, therefore, see her contract extended.

“The Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna has so far received funding from the General Directorate for Museums to cover the costs for Ales SpA staff, who carry out tasks related to fruition and reception in support of ministerial staff, who have been understaffed for some time,” explain the company’s workers subject to the transfer. “This funding will apparently cease as of 2024, and the museum management says it cannot continue the collaboration with Ales SpA for economic reasons, as the museum’s budget would not be sufficient to preserve our jobs. The only solution that has been proposed to us is a move out of the region, that is, a radical disruption of our lives.”

The workers who held the garrison did not work, but, the Mi Riconosci association, which supported the protest, reports, the museum opened anyway: according to the association, the director of the Pinacoteca, Maria Luisa Pacelli, herself, put herself in the ticket office and “a mix of people recruited from other institutions and precarious outsiders allowed the partial opening.” “’How Do You Recognize Me,’” declares Lucrezia Martufi, an activist with the association, “we support the protest of the workers and female workers. We wonder what is the point of forcing an extraordinary opening at Christmas for a museum that is heavily understaffed (the latest AFAV rankings, however, are not sufficient to guarantee the necessary staffing), with numerous vacant Area and Office manager positions on the organizational chart and, apparently, not even in a condition to be able to make up for its shortages by resorting to outside personnel.” In fact, only one visitor was seen at the Pinacoteca all morning, according to reports from the garrison workers. In short, it cannot be said that the special opening for Christmas in Bologna was a great success.

The protest of the

The protest of the

Bologna, Pinacoteca Nazionale workers protested in front of the museum on Christmas.

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