Wind of change

The recent massive demonstrations in Rome were almost unprecedented in scope. Nadine Feyder on how they brought together Italy's political Left and may yet bring Berlusconi down
It must have seemed as if the imperial games of yesteryear were being replayed at the Circus Maximus, ancient Rome's main hippodrome. However, there were no spectators this time and the thousands and thousands of peaceful protesters that crowded into the arena were decidedly peaceful.
The scene was grandiose, historical in its immensity. A sea of red flags sprawled across the horizon, proudly blowing in the wind the glistening initials of Italy's most important syndicate -- the CGIL.
Saturday, 23 March 2002 will go down in history as the biggest demonstration Italy witnessed, as over 2 million people marched through the streets of the capital. The CGIL, which with 5 million members is Italy's most important syndicate, organised the demonstration in protest of the government's proposal to modify controversial labour law Article 18. The law, which enables any worker in a company with personnel exceeding 15 employees to appeal to a tribunal in case of arbitrary layoff, was in danger of radical reform by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's right-wing government. A proposal, put forward last November, aimed at changing Article 18 in order that economic compensation to wrongly dismissed workers be substituted for rehiring. While the Italian government believes that this adjustment will make Italy a more attractive investment environment for companies and reduce Italy's unemployment levels, Italian syndicates are questioning the real reasons behind the proposal. No official economic report has been issued to back up government claims that the reform would necessarily benefit Italy's economy as a whole and nothing has been mentioned about balancing reform with an increase in government spending on welfare programmes.
"The danger is that Berlusconi is choosing flexibility at the expense of maintaining job stability. Italians are keenly aware of this. He is using Europe as an excuse to weaken our welfare system," explains Gabriele Cambiotti, a physics student at Pisa's Scuola Normale and a workers' rights activist. "In fact, article 30 of the Nice convention clearly states that it is forbidden to have arbitrary layoffs. Italian legislation is exemplary in this respect and we should be proud of it and hold it up as a model for other European countries to follow," he says. "If revitalising our economy is what Berlusconi really wants, then he can do so through other means. What about investing in training more skilled workers and increasing their flexibility? That way, they would be more adept and capable of working in different sectors of the economy."
Nazzareno Bisogni, head of the department of press for Tuscany's regional CGIL portrays the issue as more of a question of principle. "Italians are not dumb -- they realise that reforming Article 18 will not only affect the economy but also their rights as individuals," she says. "In the 1970s we fought very strongly to pass this law in parliament. Modifying it today would deprive it of its substance. It would be a step back from the social achievements of the past generation and would plunge Italy back to the times when an employer could control his workers' lives. Workers would become vulnerable to their employer's whims, and see their own political liberties curtailed. Article 18 is not just about economic realities, it's about rights, and on that question, there can be no negotiation. Either you have them or you don't."
The massive popular support that the CGIL demonstration attracted is undeniably connected with the assassination of Marco Biagi, a government adviser on economic affairs and the man in charge of reforming Article 18. His assassination on 19 March by the Red Brigades, a group of left-wing extremists, brought the issue to the forefront of national news and forced the CGIL to decide whether to suspend the march. Ironically, it was the government's reaction to the assassination that prompted syndicates to go ahead with the protest and provoked massive popular support for it. Indeed, immediately after the assassination, several government officials, including ministers, voiced their conviction that there existed a connection between the syndicates and the terrorists. Maurizio Sacconi, an official at the Ministry of Labour, emphasised in an interview with La Stampa, a centre-left newspaper, that "the root cause of Professor Marco Biagi's assassination is to be found in the world of the trade unions. We are ready to negotiate with them but they must drop their ties with terrorists."
By branding them terrorists, the Italian government hoped to muffle open criticism of its policies by discrediting the CGIL and fostering an 'us or them' mentality. However, in doing so, Berlusconi shot himself in the foot. Instead of hitting two birds with one stone, he has ended up a double loser. The public outcry did not take long in making itself heard. Divisions were buried and all Italy's syndicates announced their unwavering support for the CGIL. A formal statement was issued, demanding from the government an official apology and a retraction of its statements, warning that, until this demand was fulfilled, any form of negotiation was to be suspended.
Support was also forthcoming from students, anti-globalisation activists, intellectuals, and union members. They came together to voice their support for the CGIL, a social organisation that has come to be viewed as an integral part of Italian culture. "The march regrouped disparate elements which, whether they defied Berlusconi, rejected terrorism or opposed neo-liberalism, found common cause in marching together. The demonstration was everyone's demonstration, but the issue at stake was very precisely defined. We were stressing the importance we give as a nation to the protection of our rights as individuals and recognising the value to our society of social organisations such as the CGIL," Bisogni said.
Four days later, Italy's three main syndicates -- CGIL, UIL and CISL -- organised peace marches in most Italian cities. Protesters joked that perhaps the thousands of candles that were lit on that evening, from Bologna and Rome to Milan and Florence, would enlighten Berlusconi as to the real nature of the syndicates' demands.
The syndicates are adamant that they will not accept any modification of Article 18. An eight-hour general strike is scheduled for 16 April, the first of its kind in 19 years. Were Berlusconi to go through with his reforms, the syndicates promise to agitate for a national referendum on Article 18. Their large memberships ensure that they will have no problem in collecting the 800,000 signatures needed for putting into motion Italy's constitutional machinery.
Saturday the 23rd was a point of no return for Berlusconi. His comments associating the syndicates with terrorism were perceived as glib and self-serving and interpreted as a reflection of the international trend to stigmatise any form of governmental opposition as 'terrorism.' This double blade has proved fatal for Berlusconi and plunged him into his first political and social crisis since taking power 10 months ago.
The current controversy over Article 18 is also a point of no return for the syndicates. Reminded of their strength and of their 1994 confrontations with Berlusconi, contributing factors to his first downfall, the unions now realise that the process of deregulation can be stopped or, perhaps, even reversed. Appalled by the weakness of Berlusconi's disunited opposition, the syndicates have taken up for themselves the fight for workers' rights, the consolidation of welfare, the right to be consulted on economic reforms, and the demand for more educational schemes. The 23 March demonstration proved what Conferatti, the CGIL leader and a rising opposition star, is underscoring "Italy's culture of solidarity," referring to a social sphere in which everyone's rights matter and where individuals remain attached to their community values. Maybe Berlusconi should pay more heed to the words of Adriano Musi, executive secretary of the UIL, 'Berlusconi must realise that though he might be able to order and command, it doesn't guarantee his capacity to govern a country."
Recommend this page
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
Send a letter to the Editor