Sesto San Giovanni (Milan) 12 november 2004
21 DAYS AT MELFI FIAT

Meeting and debate with two shop stewards (one sacked for political reasons) protagonist of the Melfi struggle.
GATHERING CONVENED BY WORKINGMEN AND SHOP STEWARDS OF THE FOLLOWING FACTORIES :

Siemens Cassina de Pecchi

R.S.U. INNSE presse Milano

Ansaldo Camozzi Sesto san Giovanni

Magneti Marelli Corbetta

Comitato ex operai Falck contro l’amianto Sesto san Giovanni

Pirelli Bicocca

Pompe Gabbioneta Sesto san Giovanni

Mercegaglia Sesto San Giovanni

Lavoratori Precari Milano

Pirelli Bollate

Terim Modena

Fiat New Holland Modena
FINAL MOTION

The workingmen of the above mentioned firms and working places, gathered the 12th of November 2004 in a public assembly decided to adhere to the following statement:
The today's workingmen condition highlights without a doubt the complete failure of the trade union line based on the cooperation with the bosses, in short a union line that has guaranteed profit to the bosses and increasing misery to the workingmen.
Under the direction of the union leaders that have imposed this line we were not able to defend our salary, that has vertically collapsed, neither a single worker from redundancy.
The workingmen's shattering had been accepted and agreed on, job agencies, job on call, part-time contracts, etc, all new ways of an old work relationship founded on the old, open black-mail: " whoever is hungry has to work under the conditions established by the bosses."
Only the workingmen's direct initiative has slowed down the bosses' attack, initiative that has laid the basis for the resumption of a new struggle phase, the Melfi lesson. A new struggle phase where the workingmen do not supply only the strike foot soldiers, but it produces also new combative and militant trade unionist determined to resist to bosses pressure and black-mail.
We cannot continue at best, to bear all the struggles weight while the compromised union officials deal in our name with the usual, known results.
The combative and militant workingmen, which develop themselves during dogged struggles, find in the union officials at all levels local, regional and national, adversaries to tackle with.
It is useless to deal with them singularly, either one follows their line otherwise with manoeuvres or repression is kept a part, abandoned.
From now on we want to front collectively this challenge, we will not do them the favour of leaving the union in their hands, starting from the Italian Federation of Metal mechanics Workers (FIOM) we want to unify the force and experience that we have matured in the factories, to regain with the support and involvement of all workingmen, the control of the trade union with the complete removal of the obsolete compromised union official.
The lack of a workingmen's reliable political representation is the other big issue that has to be solved. The parties that present themselves as our close speakers, show all their inability to front a government, the Berlusconi's executive, that with his action creates not only new poor at every new statistical research but attacks with his army an other people, the people of Iraq.
The opposition parties of the indignant declarations, of the hope that the government could collapse by internal consumption, of the mythical electoral victory to came, they have not any interest to rouse the workingmen against the government, to use today all their force to overcome it.
It does not come as a surprise to us, after all also the opposition parties want that, while they play politics on television, we should carry on working and producing quiet an hopeful, until the next electoral term and over.
We do not agree any more to behave as social canvassers for anyone, to be condemned to put up all the economical events and time by time to pick up the crumbs, tighten one's belt or to die for our bosses in war: we want to build us an independent political position.
The workingmen do not have a party of their own, independent from the other Parties, able to fight for a new way of social production, without profit and wage slavery.
Today we workingmen gathered in assembly point it out as an issue, an urgent issue to which we ought give a solution.



APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY Sesto San Giovanni 12 november 2004