The Italy trade union confederation CGIL has escalated its campaign against what it calls a "business model that kills," pointing to persistent workplace fatalities and warning that government reforms could weaken corporate accountability. The critique comes as Italy grapples with over 1,000 workplace deaths annually, with precarious workers bearing the brunt of the crisis.
Why This Matters
• Over 70% of workplace deaths in Italy involve precarious workers or those employed through subcontracting chains, according to CGIL data.
• A proposed reform of Law 231/2001 could shift the burden of proof away from contracting companies in safety violations, unions warn.
• According to INAIL, the Italy National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work, Italy recorded 1,090 workplace death claims in 2024 and 1,093 in 2025, with precarious workers disproportionately represented among the fatalities.
The Business Model Under Fire
CGIL Secretary General Maurizio Landini has drawn a direct line between profit-driven corporate practices and the daily toll of workplace deaths, referencing Marcinelle, the site of a 1956 mining disaster that killed hundreds of Italian migrant workers. Landini has argued that companies prioritizing profit above all else effectively calculate worker deaths as an acceptable cost of doing business.
The union leader's criticism centers on subcontracting chains—a widespread practice in Italian construction, logistics, and manufacturing where primary contractors farm out work to multiple layers of smaller firms. This fragmentation, CGIL contends, dilutes safety oversight and pushes the most dangerous tasks onto the most vulnerable workers: those on temporary contracts with minimal job security and often inadequate training.
Italy's workplace fatality rate stood at 1.5 deaths per 100,000 workers in 2023, slightly below the EU average of 1.63. According to INAIL, Italy reported 1,090 workplace death claims in 2024 and 1,093 in 2025, virtually unchanged from the previous year. These numbers underscore the persistence of the workplace safety crisis despite existing protections.
Legislative Battleground
The union's alarm has focused on government proposals to amend Law 231 of 2001, which currently holds companies criminally liable for certain offenses, including workplace safety violations. Critics, including CGIL and legal analysts, contend that proposed changes could effectively shield client companies from responsibility when subcontractors or suppliers violate tax, social security, or safety regulations.
Union representatives argue such amendments could reverse the burden of proof, requiring prosecutors and victims to demonstrate corporate negligence rather than requiring companies to prove they implemented adequate controls over their supply chains. This shift, they warn, could make it substantially harder to hold large firms accountable when workers die in subcontracted operations.
The timing reflects an ongoing policy debate. CGIL has advanced its own legislative proposal—a popular initiative law backed by a signature-collection campaign—aimed at strengthening worker protections. The union's draft legislation seeks to mandate equal pay and conditions for workers performing identical tasks, whether directly employed or hired through contractors, and to limit or restrict subcontracting in high-risk sectors.
What This Means for Workers and Employers
For employees in construction, logistics, and industrial sectors, the practical implications are significant. Proposed legal changes surrounding corporate accountability could affect the ability of injured workers or families of those killed in subcontracted operations to establish employer liability and pursue compensation.
For businesses, competing legislative directions present divergent visions. The union proposal would require companies using contractors to ensure those workers receive comparable protections as direct hires—potentially raising labor costs but standardizing safeguards. Government proposals to reform Law 231, conversely, could reduce legal exposure for client companies, though critics argue this may also reduce incentives to enforce rigorous safety standards down the supply chain.
Recent measures do impose penalties for non-compliance: companies with serious labor or safety violations face restrictions on accessing tax breaks and contribution reductions. Firms that implement safety measures exceeding statutory minimums can receive premium reductions, depending on company size. These enforcement tools, however, apply primarily to direct employer-employee relationships, leaving the subcontracting accountability question unresolved.
The Precarity-Mortality Link
CGIL's core argument rests on data showing precarious contracts correlate with higher fatality rates. Workers on short-term deals or employed multiple levels down a subcontracting chain often receive less training, work under tighter deadlines, and hesitate to report unsafe conditions for fear of losing the next contract. According to CGIL's research, more than 70% of Italy's workplace deaths occur among precarious workers.
European comparisons underscore both progress and persistent gaps. France reported the EU's highest rate at 3.6 deaths per 100,000 workers in 2023, though Eurostat notes French reporting may include incidents tangentially related to work. The Netherlands, Germany, and Greece each recorded fewer than 1.0 per 100,000. Italy's middle-range position suggests room for improvement, particularly given the country's robust industrial base and historically strong labor protections.
The Italy Legislative Decree 81/2008, known as the Unified Text on Workplace Safety, remains the cornerstone of national regulation. It transposes EU directives and mandates risk assessments, safety officer appointments, and worker training. Amendments in 2021 expanded the powers of the Italy National Labor Inspectorate and enhanced data-sharing through the National Information System for Prevention in Workplaces. Yet enforcement remains uneven, especially in sectors dominated by small firms and cascading subcontracts.
Economic and Regulatory Pressures
The debate unfolds against a backdrop of competing economic pressures. Small and medium enterprises, which employ the majority of Italian workers, argue that compliance costs already strain margins. Employer associations have welcomed proposals to reform Law 231 as pragmatic adjustments that prevent client companies from being held liable for infractions they could not reasonably prevent.
Labor advocates counter that weakening accountability mechanisms will prompt a race to the bottom. If client firms face diminished legal risk, they may select subcontractors based primarily on price, incentivizing cost-cutting on safety equipment, training, and supervision. The result, unions predict, would be more deaths among the workers least able to protect themselves.
A new metalworking sector contract signed in recent years offers a partial blueprint for compromise. Covering small and medium firms, the agreement grants permanent employment rights after extended periods of staff leasing, caps fixed-term contract renewals, and requires companies to convert temporary positions to indefinite contracts. For larger firms, the deal mandates transparency: detailed disclosure to union representatives about subcontractors and the nature of outsourced work.
These sectoral agreements, however, lack the force of law and apply only where unions have organized presence. CGIL's legislative push seeks to universalize such protections, while government proposals move in the opposite direction—toward lighter regulation and greater corporate discretion.
The Path Forward
CGIL continues to advocate for strengthened worker protections through its legislative initiative, seeking to influence ongoing policy debate over Italy's workplace safety framework. Whether legislators will advance the CGIL proposal, government proposals to reform Law 231, both, or neither remains uncertain. What is clear is that Italy's workplace safety framework stands at a crossroads, with fundamentally different philosophies in competition.
For residents and workers, the stakes are concrete. The choice between tighter accountability for client companies versus lighter regulatory burdens will shape daily working conditions, legal remedies after accidents, and the economics of subcontracting for years to come. The central question remains whether Italy will demand a business model that places human life ahead of cost optimization—or continue to accept the current toll of workplace fatalities as the price of economic flexibility.
