What are procurement and subcontracting?

A contract is a contract whereby a company (client) entrusts a job to another company (contractor). A subcontract is when the contractor, in turn, entrusts part of the work to a third company. The chain can become complex: client → contractor → subcontractor. This system can generate confusion about responsibility and, often, wage compression at every level of the chain, as CGIL Ticino Olona denounces.

What does CGIL Ticino Olona ask in the bill?

The CGIL requests that the workers in the contracts have the same rights and the same economic and regulatory conditions as the direct workers of the client. In addition, it demands clarity on responsibility along the entire supply chain, so that each ring is responsible for respecting the standards of salary, safety and dignity of work. The collection of signatures supports this proposal for regulatory change.

Why is this issue also related to the Ticino area?

Ticino and Italian Alto Milanese are economically integrated and suffer from the same inflationary pressures on fuels, energy, housing and essential goods. Frontier workers and commuter labour markets are affected by these dynamics. When wages in a neighbouring economy are compressed, the effect also spreads to the other side of the border, making a battle for wage dignity in Legnanese relevant for Ticino.

What are the data on the economy of Legnanese in 2026?

More than 4 billion euros of annual income have been declared in Legnanese, of which 59 percent comes from employment. In the first quarter of 2026, about 30 percent of manufacturing companies in Alto Milanese recorded a decrease in turnover. The share of companies planning investments fell from 62% to 49%, signalling a significant economic slowdown.

How does the increase in the cost of living affect wages?

The cost of gasoline over 2 euros per liter, the increase in energy and essential goods erode the purchasing power of families. If wages do not rise in step with inflation, households must reduce consumption or go into debt. CGIL Ticino Olona points out that the real indicator is not the price at the pump, but how much income remains after paying all the necessary expenses to live with dignity.

Wages and contracts: the CGIL Ticino proposal for employment (cross-border guide)

Di Redazione Frontaliere Ticino · Published on 27 August 2026

Lugano overview with offices and factories, Ticino-Lombardy border landscape

CGIL Ticino Olona denounces inflation and decline in manufacturing. Proposes a law on procurement to protect wages in Legnanese.

Context

In a nutshell

CGIL Ticino Olona denounces inflation and decline in manufacturing in Alto Milanese
In Q1 2026, 30% of companies recorded a decrease in turnover
Trade union proposal: law to protect wages in procurement and subcontracting
Gasoline over 2 euros per liter, wages have not kept pace

Who: Mario Principe, Secretary General of CGIL Ticino Olona
What: Proposed law on procurement and collection of signatures for wage protections
Where: Alto Milanese, Legnanese, CGIL Ticino Olona territory
When: Resumption of activity after summer break 2026
Legnanese economy: 4 billion of declared income, 59% of employees
Manufacturing decline Q1 2026: 30% companies with decreasing turnover
Investments: programming shares dropped from 62% to 49%

As activities resume after the summer, CGIL Ticino Olona turns the spotlight on the economic crisis affecting the families of Alto Milanese. Secretary General Mario Principe launches a clear warning: the pressure of inflation, the increase in fuel and energy costs are likely to turn into a permanent erosion of wages and purchasing power. But the problem is not isolated to the price at the pump.

Petrol over two euros per litre represents the visible symbol of a deeper difficulty. Behind there are international tensions that affect energy markets, but also Italian structural issues: energy dependence, energy policy choices,

Operational details

The issue of transparency along the supply chain

CGIL Ticino Olona's proposal is based on a simple but fundamental principle: those who work at the same site and carry out the same activity cannot be treated as a series B worker just because their employment relationship goes through a contract. For this reason, CGIL calls for the application of truly representative collective agreements and economic and regulatory conditions consistent with the work actually carried out.

However, the problem goes beyond individual conditions. The longer and more opaque the subcontracting chain becomes, the more difficult it becomes to know who is really responsible for working conditions and safety. Responsibility tends to dissolve along the supply chain, with each link in the chain unloading on the other the burden of ensuring decent standards. CGIL Ticino Olona claims clear responsibility along the entire supply chain, so that it is not possible to hide behind organisational complexity.

According to CGIL Ticino Olona, it is necessary to definitively stop the practice of the maximum reduction as a mode of competition when wages, rights and safety are compressed. A company must be able to compete because it is more efficient, more innovative and more skilled, not because it pays workers less.

This is not a proposal against companies, but against a model of competition that puts correct companies and incorrect companies on the same

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Key points

What does CGIL Ticino Olona ask for in its bill proposal

CGIL Ticino Olona has launched a bill proposal accompanied by a signature collection campaign. The objective is twofold: first, to ensure that workers in outsourced and subcontracted services are subject to the same representative collective agreements and the same economic and regulatory conditions as direct workers of the contracting entity; second, to clearly trace responsibility along the entire supply chain, so that it is not possible to place on subcontractors the burden of ensuring workplace safety and dignity.

The proposal addresses a question that concerns the economic model of the territory itself. It is not simply a sectoral trade union claim, but rather a reflection on the quality of development in the Upper Milanese region and Ticino, where modern economy must be based on skilled labor, recognized competencies and dignified wages, not on a spiral of job precariousness.

CGIL Ticino Olona also asks the political establishment to discuss the proposal substantively, not merely to sign it. It is about addressing a question that concerns the economic model of the Country and the quality of development in the cross-border territory. The signature collection campaign represents a mobilization signal, but the true paradigm shift requires regulatory intervention and collective awareness.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are procurement and subcontracting?: A contract is a contract whereby a company (client) entrusts a job to another company (contractor). A subcontract is when the contractor, in turn, entrusts part of the work to a third company. The chain can become complex: client → contractor → subcontractor. This system can generate confusion about responsibility and, often, wage compression at every level of the chain, as CGIL Ticino Olona denounces.
What does CGIL Ticino Olona ask in the bill?: The CGIL requests that the workers in the contracts have the same rights and the same economic and regulatory conditions as the direct workers of the client. In addition, it demands clarity on responsibility along the entire supply chain, so that each ring is responsible for respecting the standards of salary, safety and dignity of work. The collection of signatures supports this proposal for regulatory change.
Why is this issue also related to the Ticino area?: Ticino and Italian Alto Milanese are economically integrated and suffer from the same inflationary pressures on fuels, energy, housing and essential goods. Frontier workers and commuter labour markets are affected by these dynamics. When wages in a neighbouring economy are compressed, the effect also spreads to the other side of the border, making a battle for wage dignity in Legnanese relevant for Ticino.
What are the data on the economy of Legnanese in 2026?: More than 4 billion euros of annual income have been declared in Legnanese, of which 59 percent comes from employment. In the first quarter of 2026, about 30 percent of manufacturing companies in Alto Milanese recorded a decrease in turnover. The share of companies planning investments fell from 62% to 49%, signalling a significant economic slowdown.
How does the increase in the cost of living affect wages?: The cost of gasoline over 2 euros per liter, the increase in energy and essential goods erode the purchasing power of families. If wages do not rise in step with inflation, households must reduce consumption or go into debt. CGIL Ticino Olona points out that the real indicator is not the price at the pump, but how much income remains after paying all the necessary expenses to live with dignity.