Tough times ahead for working Italian pharmacists in pharmacies in Ticino Switzerland with the qualification of assistant. The government of the canton, in fact, is preparing to approve an amendment to the 1989 health law which would limit access to this profile only to those who have achieved adequate professional training. The news comes from the 52nd National Assembly of ATAF (Ticinese Association of Pharmacy Assistants), hosted the day before yesterday in Paradiso, on Lake Lugano, where it was welcomed with great pleasure by the union delegates. This important legislative step, said the representative of the cantonal government Paolo Beltraminelli, finally protects a profession that is practically unique in Europe, but crucial in Ticino, where there are often "attacks" on jobs by foreign personnel.
The issue is years old: the pharmacy assistant is a professional figure required by Ticino legislation and does not require the achievement of a degree in pharmacy, even if the tasks at the counter also include the advice and sale of medicines (under the responsibility of the pharmacist). Throughout the canton, around eight hundred people are employed with this qualification, which involves a three-year apprenticeship with a final diploma. The salary is regulated by a collective labor agreement and the monthly salary starts from 3,250 Swiss francs (about three thousand euros) to reach over 4,300 francs (about 4 thousand euros) after five years. The result, Ataf has been denouncing for years, is that a growing number of Ticino pharmacies prefer to hire Italian pharmacists, who accept lower salaries (but still higher than in Italy) and are not bound by the category contract. Until now, the authorities had always minimized (there would be about fifty Italians hired as assistants in all, said the head of the cantonal pharmaceutical service, Giovanni Maria Zanini, a couple of years ago, to Corriere della Sera) but in the end the pressure from the Ataf prevailed.
