Whose future is it? Looking around at how workers (whether permanent, casual, temporary) are living the response isn’t encouraging. Wages and earnings have been falling for years. This is so extreme that the army of those who slave away to find that their wages don’t reach the fourth, or third, or even second, week of the month is increasing. Casualisation is widening, especially amongst the young. Unemployment is increasing by leaps and bounds though hidden a little by the cassa integrazione ⁽¹⁾ (for those who can get it) which means a drastic lowering in the quality of life.

On the other hand those who have the “good luck” to keep their jobs (permanent or temporary) are forced to submit to a clear worsening of working, and thus living, conditions. It is not just that they have inadequate wages they have to work faster and longer with more hours, more effort, fewer wages and lower pensions. The bosses’ frame of reference is the “global worker”, of relocated factories (and services) to places where labour costs are less, a lot less; where the bosses’ tyranny is absolute; where not only organised protests but even simple complaints are punished with the sack, prison or worse. The condition of the global worker, of immigrants exploited like slaves, tricked and beaten by the bosses and the forces of the state as at Pomigliano ⁽²⁾; this is the model for the “new” working relationship.

We thus in a paradox of a society where thirty somethings (or even older) are maintained by parents who are forced, sometimes literally to die in their workplace. This paradox is called capitalism. A capitalism which, in order to find a way to overcome the crisis by attacked wage workers for decades, blew up speculative bubbles until they inevitably exploded, antagonising growing sectors of the proletariat and petty bourgeoisie to whom the traditional occupational ways out have been blocked through cuts in social services, culture and research.

The intensification of exploitation, the plundering of resources (from so-called “community goods” to indirect and deferred wages) the the devaluing of studying (graduates whatever their degree get ridiculous incomes) the capitalist class cannot do anything else in order to breathe life into a rate of profit needing oxygen. All this is on the agenda of every government whatever its political colour.

Capitalism decrees and the Government executes. The unions convince the workers of the need for sacrifices haggling only over details in order to put a (partial) brake on the stinginess of the bosses and to save face. At least until yesterday. Today CISL-UIL are only an affiliate of Confindustria and the Government whilst eh CIGL want to go down the road of negotiations ⁽³⁾ but it has been this policy which has brought us to this point with concession after concession.

What therefore is to be done? It is right to demonstrate but it is not enough. A demonstration only means something when it is part of a real struggle, of an intensity at least equal to the social war which gave rise to it. But the unions don’t want this or are incapable of it (the two go together) so the working class has to takes defence of its own class interests into its own hands in this crisis these are even more implacably opposed to that of the capitalist class.

In what way? The most combative workers must create struggle committees to begin to break the sense of resignation, in order to stimulate and organise other workers, outs die of and if necessary against the unions whether we like it or not. Workers’ assemblies have to decide the manner and goals of the struggle. Let’s unite the various disputes in the enterprises in crisis, let’s fight all layoffs and casualisation. Let’s make the workers’ strength against the bosses felt, let’s create coordinating bodies during the struggle, independent of the unions in order to unite all the workers whether full time or temporary in struggle in every sector. For us it also indispensable to root this process in the internationalist and communist class party which will unite the most aware workers who are not simply resigned to the blackmail of this rotten society in order to radically question this system of exploitation – capitalism.

The future will be ours if we know how to prepare for it.

(1) Literally “integration cash” – money paid for a certain period to those laid off. Originally in the 70s it was assumed that workers in this state would be re-employed (re-integrated). Now it is just one step on the way to total unemployment.

(2) This refers to the struggle of the FIAT workers at the Pomigliano factory near Naples for more information of our comrades involvement see leftcom.org and leftcom.org

(3) CISL, UIL and CIGL are the three main union confederations which used to be linked to the Catholics, Socialists and old Communist Party. The policy of doing deals with bosses via negotiation is called “concertazione”. Confindustria is the bosses’ organisation like the CBI in the UK.