At the Vatican, this is a first. The smallest state in the world finds itself grappling with an unprecedented social conflict, with around fifty of its employees threatening to take the ecclesiastical authorities to court in the absence of a drastic change in their working conditions. All are employed by the Vatican Museums, one of the places in the world with the greatest concentration of masterpieces, priceless treasures ranging from the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel to the Renaissance paintings exhibited in its picture gallery, including its collection of ancient statues. In a notification sent at the end of April to Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, who presides over the Vatican governorate, the museum supervisory authority, the employees denounce personnel management methods that would threaten their health and ” dignity “.
The content of the document whose existence was revealed by the Corriere della Seraon May 12, testifies to a deep unease, with employees complaining of being treated “like goods”. They, in fact, report underpaid overtime, the completely discretionary nature which governs the advancement of employees or even a system of de facto house arrest in the event of illness, the inspectors of the Vatican can carry out their control visits at any time of the day. According to the text submitted by 47 guards, a restaurateur and a bookstore employee, employees caring for parents suffering from serious disabilities were also victims of discrimination.
Degraded security conditions
In addition, the Vatican is demanding reimbursement from its employees for the salaries they received during the Covid-19 pandemic. Like all other places of culture, museums were then closed and their managers now believe that the hours paid and not worked at the time are due to the employer.
The notification addressed to the Vatican authorities also emphasizes degraded security conditions which would put employees and visitors at risk. With a daily tonnage oscillating between 25,000 and 30,000, far too high for the structure, the museums would not have a sufficient number of emergency exits nor adequate air conditioning, while the protocols would not be followed at the letter by the teams in charge of the metal detectors located at the entrance.
In their struggle, Vatican employees are assisted by a unique personality on the Italian scene, the famous lawyer Laura Sgro. As one of the rare professionals accredited to the Holy See, she is accustomed to confrontation with the ecclesiastical hierarchy, even if the cases she follows otherwise involve much deeper mysteries than those of pontifical labor law. Mme Sgro is, in fact, the family advisor of Emanuela Orlandi, a young Vatican citizen aged 15 at the time of her disappearance in murky circumstances in 1983 and never found since.
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