- The national contract
- Freedom to strike
- Freedom to join a union
- The right to free expression
These are necessary for today and for a more worthwhile future for all women and men.
On January 28th, The F.I.O.M union confederation called a national strike of works in the metal mechanics sector. Many other groups throughout Italy decided to take part - schools and universities, students and other workers and service providers.
The participation in the strike was not in the least ritual. It was not simple solidarity towards "others" but rather a mobilisation to defend the rights of all women and men. We are dealing with questions that affect all, that relate to the lack of prospectives, precariousness, the loss of union and social rights. The relevance of the current conflict was demonstrated when the referendum was heldc in Mirafiori on January 13th and 14th.
The amazing response of the workers (much greater than all predictions!) to the blackmail/referendum was an act of resistance and dignity that tells all of us that the absolute will of the company and the destruction of collective rights can be opposed.
As the women delegates of the F.I.O.M at the FIAT plant in Mirafiori, in Turin, in Naples said:
“in the factory and on the production lines there are many workers who report working conditions that are at the very limit of what can be tolerated. Speeding up working rhythms, moving the lunch break to the end of the shift, cutting break times, imposing 120 hours of overtime, penalising sick leave signifies […] the logic of super-exploitation imposed with blackmail and authoritarianism, [that] breaks bodies and minds, pushes people to desperation and humiliation”
The women of the F.I.O.M rightly claim the right to a life that is not exhausted in the work place, and they maintain that:
“work with rights and the choice of motherhood and family life cannot be counterposed: Work time should not eat up the the rest of life, productivity at all costs is not the banner of modernity.”
We want an economy that is centered on social and environmental justice, cooperation and peace.
