Reportage
Prato union strikers were winning negotiations – then they were attacked
Thugs with metal pipes attacked a picket line in the Tuscan city of Prato on Wednesday. ‘Next time, we’ll shoot you.’
The “Strike Days” started last weekend by the SUDD COBA local union together with Pakistani workers to counter the system of exploitation which is widespread among many small companies in Prato's Chinese “parallel district” were having success. Agreements for eight-hour days and five days a week had been reached with the Zipper company in Seano, the Sofia textile factory in Montemurlo and the Tang ironing plant in Prato.
But on Wednesday night, the picket line at the gates of the Confezione Lin Weidong leather goods factory in Seano was attacked by at least half a dozen hooded individuals armed with metal pipes. “Next time we’ll shoot you,” the attackers shouted as they walked away after the assault.
Four people were injured: two Pakistani workers and two SUDD COBAS union activists, including coordinator Luca Toscano, who were taken to the hospital for treatment. As soon as they heard the news of the attack on the picket line, migrant workers at other companies in the area went on strike for the entire night shift and organized a rally in downtown Prato.
“It is unacceptable that those who are protesting for their rights are being attacked,” said Mayor Ilaria Bugetti. “I am calling on the competent authorities to intervene to bring the dispute back to the level of civil confrontation.”
“One cannot remain silent in the face of such ways of exploiting labor,” added Carmignano Mayor Edoardo Prestanti.
The public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation for aggravated assault and serious threats, and the Carabinieri are on the case. “This fascist-squad-style attack on the picket line was carried out by Italians,” Toscano tells us, “hired by a mafia system that controls the district and is trying to silence the workers and the union that is organizing them. These are workers fighting for the right to work with dignity, 40 hours a week instead of 12 hours a day for seven days a week. These are workers demanding regular contracts and decent working hours.”
In response, SUDD COBAS announced an even stronger mobilization and “anti-mafia demonstration” on Sunday in Seano, in the municipality of Carmignano, at 5:30 p.m. in Via Galilei, where the Confezione Lin Weidong leather goods factory is located. The union launched an appeal “to the grassroots, citizens’ committees, civil society, and the world of NGOs to demonstrate and react against the attacks on workers, which are happening because the strikes are winning and transforming this district piece by piece, as these Strike Days have proven.”
“What happened last night in Seano is unacceptable,” said Emiliano Fossi, the PD regional secretary, together with PD Deputy Marco Furfaro. “The Tuscany PD stands with the workers who were attacked while peacefully demonstrating for their rights. Taking such brutal measures against striking workers is unbelievable and cannot be tolerated.”
Valerio Fabiani, adviser for labor and corporate crises to Tuscany President Eugenio Giani, has written to Prato Prefect Michela Savina La Iacona, asking her to ensure adequate protection for labor mobilizations.
Antonella Bundu and Dmitrij Palagi of the Common Left Project in Florence expressed their full solidarity with Toscano and recalled: “We have been saying this over and over again for years: there is a whole area of crime that is being ignored or underestimated by the political and institutional system. The issue is not just about the fashion industry: there is a clear need to engage in an uncomfortable reflection on the sustainability of our productive fabric, and the working conditions on which it is (at least partly) built.”
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/prato-sprangate-contro-gli-accordi-nel-distretto-cinese on 2024-10-10