Minimum wage: The government challenges the Tuscan law, sparking controversy.

Florence, 5 August 2025 – The Government has challenged the Tuscan law on the minimum wage , number 30 of 18 June 2025, which introduced a bonus criterion for companies that apply a minimum hourly wage of no less than 9 euros gross in regional tenders with high labour intensity based on the criterion of the most economically advantageous offer.

The decision was made at Monday's Council of Ministers : according to the statement released after the Council of Ministers, the challenge was decided "because certain provisions , by conflicting with state legislation on the protection of competition, violate Article 117, paragraph 2, letter e), of the Constitution." This issue has provoked reactions and controversy, with a back-and-forth between the center-right and center-left. President Eugenio Giani has already announced his appeal to the Constitutional Court : "I express my strongest opposition to the government's decision to challenge the Tuscany regional law on the minimum wage. This is a civilized law, designed to guarantee dignity and protection for workers, rewarding companies in public procurement that pay their employees at least €9 gross per hour."

"Once again, the Meloni government has demonstrated its fear of the 'minimum wage.' So much so that it is challenging the Tuscany regional law before the Constitutional Court in order to eliminate this civilized law from public debate," stated Democratic Party Secretary Elly Schlein .

"It's scandalous," Schlein adds, "considering that families can't make ends meet due to high bills and low wages. Rest assured, not only will we continue to fight for the popular initiative bill, for which we've collected over one hundred thousand signatures, to be passed back into Parliament , but the minimum wage will be central to all electoral platforms in the regions where we'll be voting. These tricks won't stop us."

"If competition must be waged at the expense of workers, we are very happy to have promoted and approved a law that the Government believes violates current rules," commented Vincenzo Ceccarelli , leader of the Democratic Party group in the Regional Council.

"Rewarding companies that participate in regional public procurement contracts if they guarantee their workers a minimum wage of no less than 9 euros ," he adds, "is a way to encourage companies to compete freely, as required by the rules of free competition. However, this must be based on the principle that workers' health and the quality of work must never be compromised, especially when offering their services to the public sector for public works."

"I don't believe the Constitution," he adds, "can be invoked to strike down a civilized provision that implements the fundamental principle of our Constitutional Charter , namely that the Republic is founded on work, and we might add, on work that is dignified and safe. And when wages are lowered too much, work becomes inhumane and dangerous. This is further proof that the right-wing government that governs us puts on a tough face to defend the interests of the powerful, but flees when it comes to defending the weakest. I hope that the Constitutional Court , when called upon to resolve this conflict, will be able to correctly interpret the rationale behind this provision."

"When reference is made to the minimum wage law in Tuscany, if I were the Democratic Party," says Ylenja Lucaselli (FdI) in the Chamber, "I would ask its regional president to give Landini a quick call. Landini plans to continue the fight for a minimum wage, but at the same time signs contracts well below the minimum wage the Democratic Party is demanding."

"The right-wing government is challenging the Tuscan minimum wage law, a measure that protects workers," says Florence Mayor Sara Funaro . "In Florence, we were the first in Italy to implement it, with a reward system that guarantees at least €9 gross per hour in municipal contracts. Because for us, the dignity of work and workers always come first. The Tuscany Region did well to extend this policy to the regional level. I find it scandalous that the government, instead of putting in the same effort, is challenging a civilized law. We are proud of what we have achieved as the city of Florence and proud of our Region, which we will support in this and many other battles to meet the needs of our citizens. After all, this isn't the first time the government has challenged a Tuscan law: it almost seems like a tradition. It's a shame that people's rights always suffer."

"If this had been a law favoring banks or energy companies, the Meloni government wouldn't have flinched. But faced with the Tuscany Region 's law on minimum wages for workers, the right-wing party promptly set to work to block it." This was stated by Nicola Fratoianni of AVS after the Council of Ministers' decision to challenge the Tuscan regional law last June, which introduced a bonus criterion for companies applying a gross minimum wage of no less than 9 euros in regional tenders . "It's stronger than them: when someone wants to protect the most vulnerable , workers, both men and women," concludes the SI leader, "the Meloni government is the one to put a spoke in the wheels: a right-wing party that is hostile to the poor and those who struggle to get by, that's what they are."

"It wasn't enough for them to ditch it in Parliament," says Marco Furfaro , of the Democratic Party secretariat. "Now they're trying to ban it in Tuscany too. The Meloni government has just challenged the regional law that rewards companies that pay at least 9 euros gross per hour with higher scores in public procurement. Not an obligation, not an imposition: a simple incentive. Yet, for the right, even this is too much. They say it's a violation of the Constitution . But the truth is that the minimum wage violates their model of society : one where competition is at a low price, where workers are exploited at two, three or four euros an hour, where the interests of a few prevail over those of everyone else. But those who work have the right to a decent wage. And if the government doesn't want to guarantee it, then it's the Regions' duty to try to do so with the tools they have. Giorgia Meloni first ditched the minimum wage in Parliament and now, not content with that, she also wants to prevent a Region from rewarding who pays the right price. It's a disgrace."