Staff at Milan Stock Exchange stage historic strike

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By Giancarlo Navach

MILAN (Reuters) -Workers waving flags demonstrated outside the Milan Stock Exchange on Thursday as they staged a historic strike to protest against the way it is being run by owner Euronext.

Unions scheduled the stoppage for two hours from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (1330-1530 GMT), the end of the working day, and there were no reports of any disruption to trading on Borsa Italiana, the Milan exchange.

Euronext said it respected the decision of staff who joined the action and signalled it was ready for further talks with unions to try to resolve their differences.

“We want to reassure them (our workers) that maintaining an open and constructive dialogue remains a priority for us,” it said in a statement.

The unions have accused Euronext of “constant, systematic and overall disinvestment from Italy”.

Euronext – which also runs stock markets in Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin, Lisbon, Oslo and Paris – completed its acquisition of the Italian stock exchange in April 2021.

There were around 50-60 people at the demonstration outside the exchange building but unions said other members had also stopped working and joined the action remotely. There are in total around 700 employees at the Milan bourse.

“It’s a symbolic strike,” said Giovanni Costantini, a union representative for Monte Titoli, a part of the exchange that helps to manage Italy’s huge public debt.

“We don’t want to inconvenience ordinary people or the financial community but we can’t go on like this,” he told Reuters.

Lando Sileoni, secretary general of the Fabi banking union, said that a loss of strategic autonomy for Borsa Italiana was the most important of four grievances behind the strike.

Speaking to Rai Italian radio, he also cited fears over potential job losses, failure to deliver on pay rises and a dysfunctional environment as the other drivers.

Euronext said on Thursday it had created more than 100 jobs in Italy in recent years and that the country was an important part of its expansion plans.

Unions expect to return to the negotiating table after a meeting which Industry Minister Adolfo Urso has scheduled with them for July 3.

(Additional reporting by Claudia GrecoEditing by Andrew Heavens and Keith Weir)