Statement from Ciarán Cuffe MEP on Lack of Justice in Ongoing Italian 'Lettori' Case In response to a written question submitted by several Irish MEPs on the slow progress in ending workplace discrimination in Italian universities against non-national teaching staff or 'Lettori' as they are referred to in Italy, the European Commission has stated that information from the Italian authorities on compliance with the ECJ Lettori ruling "constitutes a serious reason for concern". Non-national language teachers at Italian universities do not receive the same parity of treatment as their Italian colleagues when it comes to accessing maternity leave or permanent contracts. Under Italian law, employees with regularly renewed contracts must receive open-ended contracts that provide the same job security and rights as long-term workers.Ciarán Cuffe, Irish Green Party MEP for Dublin, said: "EU citizens have the right to work in other EU member states, but it is clear that Italy is failing to honour this fully. It is high time this longstanding discrimination against foreign national teaching staff in Italy ends. Italy needs to step up and comply with the 4 European Court of Justice rulings. The freedom of EU citizens to work in any member state is enshrined under the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. This must be respected. Failure to comply with this is impacting the livelihoods and careers of so many non-nationals. It is shocking and completely unacceptable that rights such as maternity leave have been denied to non-national teaching staff in Italian universities. This cannot continue. If Italy cannot sort this out, then I urge the Commission to take rapid steps to rectify this longstanding injustice."Ends

1. The written question to the Commission can be found
2. The Commission's response can be found here.

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