General Strike: CGIL and UIL

Below is the leaflet distributed by the Party during the general strike demonstrations of November 29, where we welcomed the participation of numerous rank-and-file organizations.

The railway workers did not participate in this strike, in compliance with the imposed rule of a 10-day no-strike period after a previous abstention from work by maintenance workers (the so-called « rarefaction » of struggles in union jargon). Furthermore, Salvini, the Minister of Transport, had ordered local transport workers to not exceed 4 hours of abstention per day and respect guaranteed deadlines under any circumstance. The Regional Administrative Court, to which the various organizers had appealed, had not even considered the appeal.

Other strikes in the maritime and air transport sectors are planned for December, as well as in the railway sector, including the general strike called by the rank-and-file union USB (which did not join the one on November 29). Again, Salvini is threatening to order them to work.

In addition, a « security decree » will be passed, which will prohibit pickets as well as all other forms of unauthorized protests, such as marches, roadblocks, and blockades of goods in the logistics sector.

It is clear that the so-called « right » to strike is invalidated for these kinds of workers, but this will soon become the case for others too, perhaps with the excuse of safeguarding the « national economy. » It is equally clear that a weapon of struggle that the working class uses for its defense can’t be safeguarded by appealing to the judicial system.

The strike is not a right that is granted, but a weapon of battle that workers appropriate to fight the class enemy! If the class does not wish to succumb to the increasing pressure on its living and working conditions, we must counterpose its increasingly widespread mobilization against the repression created by increasingly stringent regulations.

FOR THE DEFENSE OF LIVING AND WORKING CONDITIONS

AGAINST COLLABORATIONISM

LET A UNITED CLASS-BASED TRADE UNION FRONT GAIN STRENGTH!

November 29, 2024

Fellow workers,

The living and working conditions of the working class have been under a heavy assault for some time. The government, supported by the employers, is preparing to pass further anti-strike measures and other repressive regulations against workers’ mobilization. The conscription of transport workers implemented on this occasion and the proposed « security law » that would prohibit pickets and « unauthorized » marches, after the strike regulation passed some time ago, are further acts aimed at rendering the struggles illegal.

These measures can be fought against not with appeals to the courts, but with a strong and organized mobilization of all sections of the working class!

The union confederations are not moving in this direction. The CGIL and UIL were instead forced to call this strike at this date—set by some rank-and-file unions—in order not to lose their grip on the workers or risk being overtaken by a movement that might develop at the base.

Today we welcome the fact that numerous rank-and-file union organizations, rather than withdrawing, confirm their participation in this day of struggle. They bring the attack on the collaborationist policy of the Confederal unions to the striking workers and agitate class demands to push for the radicalization and extension of the struggle towards a united union front. This will be the basis for the reconstitution of the Class Union against the collaborationism of the tricolor unions.

Following this path, the working class will also be able to counter the prospect of an inter-imperialist conflict that is emerging on the international scene. They will be able to pose class alignment in the international revolution as an alternative to the alignment of workers on the opposing fronts of the war between states.

This path can only be undertaken if accompanied by the reunification of the class with its historic Communist Party, which represents the program of its emancipation from capitalist society through revolution.

FOR THE REBIRTH OF THE CLASS UNION AGAINST THE REGIME UNION!

FOR A RETURN OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY TO THE LEADERSHIP OF THE WORKING CLASS IN ITS STRUGGLE FOR EMANCIPATION FROM CAPITALISM

FOR THE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION!