A-Infos (en) Italy, Umanita Nova FAI: Strike of 2 December: from the unitary path to the news. (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

The collegial editorial team discussed at length on the type of evaluation that 
should be given to the days of struggle on 2 and 3 December. ---- Those who 
participated firsthand in those days of struggle, in the strike, in the 
demonstrations and above all in the path that preceded them, certainly cannot be 
satisfied with the apology of a botched union unit. ---- We believe that whoever 
sees in Umanità Nova an indispensable moment of deepening and criticism can only 
rejoice at our decision to open a debate on the last moments of national 
struggle, with the objectives of a more incisive presence of the libertarian 
component and of a more incisive role of the movement of male and female workers 
in the process of economic and social transformation of society.

We begin by publishing an article proposing a report and evaluation of December 2 
and 3 from a particular point of view, followed by an article expressing a more 
critical point of view.

We hope that others will want to speak on these issues.

Collegiate editorial board
***
The national general strike of 2 December 2022 of all public and private sectors 
of grassroots and conflict unionism, promoted by ADL Varese, CIB-Unicobas, COBAS 
Sardegna, COBAS Confederation, CUB, SGB, USB, USI-CIT, had a good adhesion 
especially in the public transport sector. In fact, hundreds of thousands of male 
and female workers abstained from work and, on the day of the strike, local 
initiatives were activated in at least twenty cities. From day laborers to 
logistics, from public administration to education, health care, transport and 
services, male and female workers have united and mobilized against war and the 
war economy, in particular against the spiraling military spending, the high 
living costs and high bills, to obtain wages adjusted to the increase in the cost 
of living and the restoration of the sliding scale. The joint proclamation of the 
strike was made concrete on 24 September 2022, another stage in the context of 
the debate following the general strike of 11 October 2021 and 20 May last. It is 
known that in addition to the platform and the slogan "Down with weapons, up with 
salaries", mobilizations were also discussed, in meetings, in national (October 
15 Milan) and city assemblies, in workplaces and in the territories, before and 
after the announcement. The mobilization options that emerged, in addition to the 
strike, took into account the different points of view, and were: 1) local 
demonstrations or a national demonstration on December 2nd 2) local 
demonstrations on December 2nd and a national demonstration in Rome on December 
3rd. Therefore the trade union protest with local demonstrations went beyond the 
strike day of 2 and on 3 December there was the national demonstration.

In Rome on the 2nd there were principals under the MIM (Ministry of Education and 
Merit), the MISE (Ministry of Economic Development), the MEF (Ministry of Economy 
and Finance). At the same time, the Movement for the right to live occupied a 
building in via Sicilia with 49 families, bringing the housing emergency back to 
the negotiating table and there was a sympathetic garrison in front of the 
Turkish Embassy's Culture Office, "We see your crimes", to denounce the bombings 
and the use of chemical weapons by the Turkish and Iranian states in Rojava. 
Furthermore, in a press conference under the Prefecture of Rome, the grassroots 
unions denounced the ban on demonstrating under the seat of Parliament following 
a prefectural order issued and not withdrawn during the state of emergency for 
covid19. Numerous social realities, student collectives, social centers, 
organizations, parties, etc. took part in the national procession on Saturday 3 
December. and about ten thousand demonstrators took part (6 thousand for the 
police headquarters) from all over the country and, under a pouring rain, they 
crossed the streets of the city from p.za della Repubblica to p.za S. Giovanni. 
Also present was a delegation of alternative trade unions in Europe. The voice of 
protest, silenced by the press, resounded in the cities, both on the day of the 
strike and the following day, when thousands of male and female workers poured 
into the streets of Rome. What is contested is the absence of structural policies 
to bridge the devastating impact of inflation on the lives of wage earners and 
pensioners that the current far-right Meloni government is pursuing in continuity 
with previous governments which, moreover , is taking away a meager basic income 
from the unemployed to give more resources to the bosses, to give more freedom to 
companies, above all the oil companies, to arms manufacturers and sellers. There 
are thousands of families at risk of further impoverishment, thousands of 
companies choked by energy costs and, once again, the first to pay the 
consequences will be citizens due to the absence of necessary investments aimed 
at education, health, transport, to the environment.

A unitary path of open and articulated struggle therefore in the rediscovered and 
renewed national general strike of 2 December 2022 where, by magic, opportunism 
or sectarianism did not disappear and where, concretely, all the adhering and 
participating promoters found the own protest space including those that 
intervened directly in the demonstrations with contents unrelated to the appeal 
and the platform of the strike. In the face of a slaughter aimed at every single 
working and social sector in a divisive way, the hundreds of thousands of male 
and female workers who abstained from work on December 2, the tens of thousands 
of participants in local demonstrations and in the national procession in Rome 
are a worthy reality that was immediately self-organized around a unitary 
grassroots and conflictual union platform and outside the concerted unions CGIL 
CISL UIL.

Norm Santi

https://umanitanova.org/sciopero-del-2-dicembre-dal-percorso-unitario-alla-cronaca/
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