Analysis
CGIL invokes general strike against Meloni’s economic policy
'The mobilization should go all the way to a general strike and mandates the national secretariat to assess and determine the manner and timing of such a strike with the other confederal unions, so that it would be effective in fighting the government's choices regarding the budget law.'
“General strike” is an expression that the CGIL union has been reluctant to use in its official documents for some years. On Monday, however, its General Assembly – the body that has taken the place of the Executive Committee and is similar to a small parliament, consisting mostly of delegates from every category of workers rather than union leadership – voted to use those exact words.
The union’s position, approved by unanimous vote, includes a takedown of every aspect of Meloni and Giorgetti's economic policy. It deems it necessary that “the mobilization should go all the way to a general strike and mandates the national secretariat to assess and determine the manner and timing of such a strike with the other confederal unions, so that it would be effective in fighting the government's choices regarding the budget law.”
We’re likely to see the same pattern we’ve seen before: the CGIL and UIL unions will organize a general strike, while CISL will remain isolated once again due to its (inexplicable) deference towards the Meloni government. Still, on Monday Luigi Sbarra (CISL) met with PD secretary Elly Schlein and called on the government to “absolutely refrain from touching social spending.”
UIL will hold a meeting of its Executive Committee on Thursday, October 10, to discuss the “clash with the government.” Inevitably, it will have to decide on the union’s approach after CGIL made its choice clear, and the prevailing sentiment is that the Landini-Bombardieri axis will hold once again.
The last nationwide general strike was on Dec. 16, 2022 when CGIL and UIL called for a four-hour strike by all public and private sector workers against the first budget law of the newly-elected Meloni government. Last year, however, CGIL and UIL decided on a different kind of protest: a general strike at the macro-regional level with the peninsula divided into four dates: Nov. 17, 24 and 27 and Dec. 1.
CGIL’s analysis of the situation pulls no punches: “The next budget law will usher in a long season of austerity and cuts in health care, education and research, social security, national collective bargaining agreements for public labor, local government and investment. All this is not an inevitable prospect, but the result of a clear political choice to not touch windfall profits, business profits, financial and real estate rents, large fortunes and tax evasion.” Instead of this, according to CGIL, “an alternative tax reform proposal must be relaunched, based on the principles laid down in our Constitution: progressiveness, equitability, ability to contribute, a tough fight against tax evasion, the renewal of the measures on the tax and contribution wedge that are about to expire, countering fiscal drag, and an increase in taxes on profits, annuities and large fortunes.” The document also states that “the demands and mobilizations put forward during these months and in the coming weeks, together with the fight against industrial crises and for the protection of employment, all go in the same direction, and are in perfect harmony with the referendum fight [against differentiated autonomy and the Jobs Act] that we are waging and with our commitment against the madness of war and the rearmament strategy.”
On the topic of peace, CGIL will be spearheading the national mobilization called for Saturday, Oct. 26, under the slogan “Let's stop wars, the time for peace is now,” which “will be widespread throughout the national territory.”
On Tuesday, CGIL and UIL were set to protest together against the Labor Bill that was up for a vote in the Chamber of Deputies, with a rally held in Rome at the Pantheon, Piazza della Rotonda, starting at 2:30 p.m.
“With the Labor Bill, they are continuing with an increasingly marked flexibilization and precariousness: it liberalizes temporary employment contracts, expands unregulated seasonal work, and favors tax exemptions on mixed contracts that incentivize self-employment and part-time work,” said CGIL confederal secretary Maria Grazia Gabrielli.
She was echoed by UIL confederal secretary Ivana Veronese: “As we celebrate the World Day for Decent Work, in Italy we are about to vote on a measure that deregulates the labor market, increasing precariousness and decreasing protections.”
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/la-cgil-sciopero-generale-contro-la-manovra-di-meloni on 2024-10-08