Strikes in Italy: Just The Tip Of The Iceberg

Strikes in Italy

Just The Tip Of The Iceberg

THIS YEAR’S May Day came at a time of heightened tension
in Italian society and of some of the most dramatic strike struggles in
Europe. CLARE DOYLE reports.

Mounting demands for the withdrawal of Italian troops
from Iraq have been fuelled by the capture of four Italians and the brutal
killing of one of them. So strong is the feeling, that centre-left party
leaders have been forced to talk about following the example of the new
Spanish government and withdrawing troops immediately.

At the same time, 5,000 workers of Fiat Melfi, in the
South of Italy, are in the third week of a solid strike against a wage that
is 20% lower than that of workers in any other Fiat factories, and against
"murderous" shift patterns (which include 15 consecutive nights
without a break).

Workers’ unity

An unprecedented unity in action has been forged in the
face of extreme obstinacy on the part of the Fiat management. Workers from a
number of different trade union organisations at the plant have taken the
conduct of the struggle into their own hands.

Practically every worker is involved in direct elections
of the representatives from the shop-floor and a "permanent
assembly" at the plant reviews every stage of the struggle. Although
the mass pickets have been at least temporarily lifted, the strike continues
and is voted on at the beginning of every eight-hour shift.

Workers from other Fiat factories around the country
have also been involved in lightning strikes and walkouts in solidarity with
the fight at Melfi. Last Monday, after more than a week of mass picketing to
stop buses carrying scabs from entering the plant, a vicious police attack
was launched, clearly acting on orders from Rome.

The Carabinieri charged in, lashing out with batons
left, right and centre. Many were injured. Outrage found its expression in
an all-out four-hour general strike of engineering workers on Wednesday 28
April. In the Basilicata region, where the Melfi factory is sited, the
strike was for eight hours.

The middle of last week also saw a two day strike at
Alitalia – Italy’s national airline. Every one of its planes remained on the
round. Airports and runways were blocked by hundreds of workers
demonstrating their anger at plans to cut 1,100 jobs directly and
‘outsource’ those of another 2,100.

Government attacks

The response of the minister of welfare, Maroni, was to
announce a halving of the subsidy to Alitalia. He also launched a
wide-ranging plan to shackle the trade unions, minimise the right to strike
and even to resurrect the attack on Clause 18 of the country’s labour law.

It was this planned ‘reform’ which provoked the mass
protest movement of general strikes and demonstrations not long into the
three year government of Silvio Berlusconi. Giorgio Cremaschi, national
secretary of the metal mechanics union, Fiom, told the newspaper, La
Repubblica: "If he reopens this question, he will only demonstrate his
weakness. He can do this of course, but the government would have to get
ready to be overturned".

In the coming weeks and months, there will undoubtedly
be a further escalation of workers’ struggles – explosions interspersed with
pauses for breath and for reflection. The trade union leaders should call
for solidarity action in the form of full-blooded general strikes of all
workers in Italy for 24 hours as a minimum.

They should link such a call with the battle to defend
all pension and other rights, including Clause 18 once more in the firing
line.

Socialist programme

In the coming weeks, there will also be political
battles in connection with the European and provincial elections taking
place on June 12. A clear alternative programme of socialist demands is
sorely needed in the battle with the parties of big business and the rich.

The largest workers’ party in Italy, given the
capitalist and reformist nature of the ex-Communist Party, the Democrats of
the Left (DS), is Rifondazione Comunista (Rc). Unfortunately, its leadership
has decided to go into the coming elections supporting the ‘Olive Tree’
coalition.

This not only includes the DS but the Margherita (Daisy)
party. One of this party’s leading lights is head of the Ferrari motor
company and a cousin of the Agnellis who have owned Fiat for decades and
made their family fortune at the expense of its super-exploited workers!

Nationalisation

In relation to Fiat, as well as applauding the
determined fight of the workers, the RC leaders are now, correctly, calling
for the nationalisation of this flagship company which employs more than
than any other private company in Italy (and thousands more worldwide).

The RC should, however, include in its programme a clear
call for public ownership under democratic workers’ control not only of Fiat
but also of Alitalia (at present 63% state-owned) and all the major
companies in Italy.

It should link the strike struggles of today with the
vital need for a government made up of elected representatives from amongst
those involved in confronting the present government and those forced to
fight against capitalism and all its ills.

As the leaflet distributed on May Day by members of ‘Lotta
per il socialismo’ (the CWI’s group in Italy) explained, the RC should not
be afraid to put forward an independent working class and socialist
alternative as the only long-term solution to the problems facing workers
and young people.