Crosetto meets military union representatives: "The State must give concrete attention to those who serve it in uniform."

At the Officers' Club of the Italian Armed Forces in Rome, an important institutional meeting took place between the Minister of Defense, Hon. Guido Crosetto, and the Professional Associations with Trade Union Character among Military (APCSM). A discussion described by the Minister as “fundamental to strengthen the dialogue with the military personnel representatives and to build a stronger, more modern, and cohesive Defense.”

Alongside Crosetto were Undersecretary Perego, the Chief of Defense Staff General C.A. Portolano, the Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces, and the General Commanders of the State's armed corps.

USMIA: "A comprehensive reform is needed"

The Interforce Military Union Association (USMIA), represented by General Secretaries Leonardo Nitti, Roberto Mangione, Carmine Caforio, National Secretary for Executives Francesco Ceravolo, along with the President of USMIA Marina and GC Giampietro Giuseppe and the Interforce Deputy Secretary Angelo Famiglietti (Carabinieri), presented a detailed platform of proposals to concretely improve the working and family conditions of military personnel. Among the main points:

• Dedicated pension: Urgency of full implementation to correct the imbalances of past reforms, ensure pension security for young military personnel, and promote generational turnover.
• Career reorganization: A new reform is proposed to enhance roles, functions, and responsibilities more equitably and effectively.
• Career progressions: Requested the unblocking of stalemate situations, especially in top ranks, and the renewal of the executive contract with the start of negotiation tables.
• Fixed-term volunteers: Hoped for a regulatory review to ensure full parity with the military police forces, in terms of permits, licenses, right to study, and remuneration.
• Military healthcare: Proposed the urgent creation of an interforce technical table for the reform of the Military Health Service, with the aim of ensuring uniform, quality, and adequate health services for personnel needs.

USMIA strongly reiterated that the quality of the military apparatus depends on the well-being of its protagonists:

“A modern and credible defense system is based on motivated, respected, and valued professionals, both economically and humanly.”

SAM: “Investing in defense also means investing in personnel”

The Autonomous Military Union (SAM), with General Secretary Antonino Duca and National President Carmine Mazzarella, echoed the words of the Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Carmine Masiello:

"Military personnel fight and risk their lives, but behind them, I would say alongside them, the support of a compact national structure that supports them, both materially and morally, is necessary."

The SAM highlighted the urgency of addressing issues such as:

• Salary dynamics, pensions, and welfare: Urgently addressing these issues in a manner appropriate to the military reality and its peculiarities.
• Overcoming the 244/2012 model: A revision of the current reference model is requested, deemed no longer adequate.

The SAM positively judged the Minister's recognition of the validity of the proposals made and the announcement of the start of a dialogue with the Prime Minister and the Defense Committees of the Chamber and Senate, to also listen to the APCSM not yet convened.

ASPMI: "Concrete actions on military specificity"

ASPMI was represented by President Gen. D. (ret.) Massimo Margotti and Lt. Col. Leonardo D’Elia. General Secretary Francesco Gentile was absent due to serious family reasons.

Margotti raised two central issues:

1. The need for regulatory corrections for the APCSM, starting from the disparity between the duration of mandates and detachments.
2. The full recognition of military specificity, with proposals on pensions, legal and health protections.

“It is time to give concrete content to the framework of specificity, with clear measures that improve the lives of those who serve the country in uniform.”

He also shared USMIA's criticism of the management of contractual funds for executives, hoping for a more equitable distribution.

S.I.A.M.O. Esercito: priorities for the dignity and well-being of personnel

S.I.A.M.O. Esercito participated with General Secretary Mauro Palmas, accompanied by Williams Monte, Regional Secretary for Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta.

Palmas thanked for the openness to dialogue, calling it a “significant sign of openness and attention towards military personnel” by advancing the following requests:

• Implementation of Law 46/2022: To ensure a truly autonomous and operational union representation.
• Stabilization of precarious personnel: Through the progression of rankings of eligible non-winners.
• Simplification of advancement procedures: To ensure transparency, motivation, and certainty in promotions.
• Expansion of internal competitions for officers: Inclusion of eligible non-winners, with sustainable meritocratic criteria.
• Requalification of housing assets: Improvement of the conditions of state-owned houses for residential use.
• Modernization of the vehicle fleet: Essential for daily operational efficiency and safety.
• Specific military pension system: Establishment of a system designed based on the peculiarities and wear of the service.
• Extension of flight allowance: Recognition also for onboard gunners.
• Timely payment of overtime and allowances: As a minimum element of respect and professional protection.
• Revision of transfer criteria: More equity, transparency, and attention to family needs.

S.I.A.M.O. Esercito confirmed the willingness to continue in a responsible and institutional dialogue, to protect personnel and in respect of the constitutional principles that regulate the relationship between the military and the Republic.

SIAM – Sindacato Aeronautica Militare

For SIAM – Sindacato Aeronautica Militare, present at the meeting with its own delegation, the dialogue with Minister Guido Crosetto represented a significant moment in building a mature institutional dialogue between the Government and military representatives.

During the meeting, the main issues affecting the personnel of the Aeronautica Militare were reiterated, starting from the legal status of VFI, deemed now unsustainable, to the need for a dedicated pension system to ensure a dignified pension for outgoing personnel.

Among the topics brought to attention were also the housing conditions, the improvement of economic treatment, the adjustment of mission allowances unchanged for over twenty years, and the upcoming employment contract, for which only the start of technical tables is awaited.

SIAM appreciated the transfer of the Union Relations Office from the military leadership to the Minister's Cabinet, considered a fundamental step to fully recognize the political and non-subordinate nature of union dialogue.

The union finally reiterated that it will monitor the respect of promises and commitments made today and that it will never accept a subordinate relationship, but only a peer-to-peer dialogue, in the exclusive interest of the personnel it represents.

AMUS – Aeronautica: “A new era of rights, adequate salaries, and structural reforms is needed”

Representing the association were Secretary General Guido Bottacchiari and National Board member Gianbattista Bellanova. AMUS had 22 minutes in total, thanks also to the delegation granted by other union organizations.

Bottacchiari's intervention began with a direct awareness action towards the Minister, focused on the salary conditions of military personnel, highlighting the severe gap accumulated between salaries and the cost of living, estimated at over 20% in the last twenty years. A penalty, he recalled, that particularly affected contracted personnel, effectively impacting all levels of the hierarchical scale.

AMUS requested dedicated resources to conclude ongoing negotiations for managers (third salary pillar) and to start the 2025/2027 contract for contracted personnel. The urgency of simultaneously starting dedicated and complementary pension systems was also reiterated, especially to protect the younger ones.

On the career front, a revision of roles was urged, with the enhancement of new skills and the overcoming of obsolete frameworks, such as graduates relegated to executive roles.

AMUS then represented the requests shared by 18 national organizations, asking for:

• Union dialogue also at the local level, in addition to the regional level.
• Clearer and progressive procedures for consultation between APCSM and Administrations.
• Precise definition of the prerogatives of union leaders, regarding assignments, detachments, employment, and protections.
• Opening to CAF and Patronato services, currently hindered by regulatory constraints.

It was also requested to place the Labor Relations Office directly under the top political authority, to make the dialogue with staff representatives more effective.

ITAMIL Army: “We do not ask for privileges, but respect, tools, and listening”

ITAMIL was present with Secretary Girolamo Foti, President Frattalemi, and Vice President Passarelli. Foti in his speech thanked the Minister for the attention shown towards military personnel, recalling President Mattarella's words about insufficient salaries.

The ITAMIL Secretary highlighted the following operational issues:

• No convening of the Defense Commissions in three years.
• Lack of a meeting with the Presidency of the Council.
• Non-concrete outcomes of thematic meetings with administrations.
• Compression of union prerogatives at the territorial level following changes to Law 46 and the COM.
• Absence of effective operational tools for representatives.
• Environmental concerns in Teulada, with a request for maximum transparency and protection for the health of the military.
• Need for verifiable actions and not just formal meetings, especially in view of the 2025–2027 contract renewal.

He then continued on the still open structural issues:

• Welfare and agreements on a national scale (public transport, airplanes, trains, ferries), aligned with the Police Forces.
• Reorganization and reconstruction of careers, currently stalled.
• Extraordinary competition ex art. 958.
• Stabilization of VFP (Volunteers in Fixed-Term Service).
• Housing emergency for personnel.
• Updating of pension coefficients and recognition of military specificity.
• Changes to Law 104, art. 42-bis and Law 267, in light of the aging personnel and lack of generational replacement (effect of Law 244/2012).

Foti finally illustrated some operational proposals:

• Periodic convocations by the Defense Commissions.
• Formal meeting with the Presidency of the Council, to be scheduled.
• Traceability and verification of outcomes of meetings with administrations.
• Restoration of territorial union prerogatives.
• Establishment of a joint observatory Ministry–Unions.
• Verification of environmental conditions, starting from Teulada.
• Permanent consultation mechanism with military unions.

ITAMIL reiterated that strengthening dialogue with representatives is an institutional duty and not a waste of time, concluding by not asking for privileges, but respect, listening, and adequate tools, reminding that

"Democracy is strengthened when all voices are heard, even those outside the chorus. History teaches us that common sense often solves more problems than proclamations. And today, we are in desperate need of common sense"

FESI Decree signed, payments in August

During the discussion, it was announced that Minister Crosetto signed the FESI decree on the same day and that payments will be made in August, news welcomed by all the organizations present.

What is the FESI decree?

The FESI (Fund for the Efficiency of Institutional Services) is an additional compensation granted in 2025 to military personnel in permanent service, as an economic recognition linked to the actual presence in service during the year 2024, and incorporates the negotiation agreement stipulated with the APCSM (Professional Associations with a Trade Union Character of the Military).

Words from Minister Crosetto

In closing, Crosetto expressed satisfaction with the dialogue:

"Today an important moment of dialogue with the Defense trade unions. We have made progress in the dialogue, building together new procedures and methodologies to better protect the personnel" said the Minister Crosetto who then added:

"Our commitment is clear: to collaborate in order to improve working conditions and well-being, in an international context that requires a Defense that is increasingly strong and prepared. A profound renewal is needed, with investments in personnel, adequate training, and modernization of the rules, remembering the specificity and importance of the Armed Forces for the country. I thank everyone for the work done and confirm the willingness to listen, respond, and act with speed and concreteness. Our common goal is to ensure that those who work in Defense receive the attention they deserve from the State."

Conclusion

The meeting represents a significant moment in strengthening the dialogue between the Ministry of Defense and the military trade union representatives. The issues that emerged, clear and shared, confirm the willingness to build a concrete path for improving personnel conditions. From Minister Crosetto, there was a concrete willingness to listen and engage in dialogue, an element that further strengthens the central role of the military as a servant of the State and an essential presence at the service of the community.