Supervisors in the Vatican Museums, restorers and bookstore employees wrote to the Vatican demanding better working conditions, the Milan daily Corriere della Sera reported on Sunday. If they didn’t receive a response, they threatened to file a class action lawsuit, it said.
The employees complained that overtime in the Vatican was very poorly paid. In addition, there are no support measures in the event of unemployment or times of crisis such as during the corona pandemic. They turned to the respected lawyer Laura Sgro to enforce their concerns.
The employees, all Romans, stated, among other things, that “between 25,000 and 30,000 people pass through the Vatican Museums every day, although the maximum number of visitors is 24,000 per day.” They further complained that the rooms in the Vatican Museums lack air conditioning and complained about a small number of gendarmes, which creates problems for the guards, who are sometimes attacked by harassing visitors.
“The Pope talks about rights, but we are viewed as mere commodities,” complained the employees. There was initially no response to the complaints from the management of the Vatican Museums.
No income tax
Of around 4,800 employees, more than half work for the Holy See, i.e. in the authorities, media or embassies of the world church administration. The others are employees of the 44-hectare Vatican City: gardeners, supermarket or post office clerks, museum guards and cleaners. A full-time working week at the Vatican is 36 hours. Every two years there is a seniority bonus and an inflation adjustment – if the Pope does not freeze these, as in 2021, due to the Covid pandemic. The deduction for old age and health insurance is around ten percent of the gross salary. No income tax is levied.
