Restless in Rome
Strikes in Italy are quickly spreading from factories to the public sector,
writes Samia Nkrumah from Rome
2004 in Italy has kicked off with a series of transport strikes threatening to paralyse several large northern cities as well as the centre, notably Rome and Naples. The trend is continuing with more work stoppages expected in the next few weeks. The mantle of labour action seems to be passing from factory workers to public service employees.
The series of "wildcat strikes" organised without the sanction of the trade unions on 9 January was one of the most conspicuous so far. The disruption in services of buses, trams and trains were keenly felt on that day, particularly in Rome where pelting rain limited the use of scooters and bikes.
The force behind the stoppages is the comitati di base COBAS, or grass-root committees and small autonomous unions who are protesting the latest accord signed between the government and the three main trade unions last month over an overdue pay raise.
The General Confederation of Italian Workers (CGIL), the Confederation of Italian Union Workers (CISL) and the Italian Workers Union (UIL) all opposed the strike. The fact that a majority of workers affiliated to the three big unions joined the strikers reflects the general dissatisfaction with recently signed agreement. Employees with public transport companies are not happy with the deal signed by their union bosses because the pay increase of around 80 euros a month and back pay accorded them is well below what the unions had originally asked for. Instead, the strikers are calling for fresh negotiations over the December agreement that would guarantee a pay increase to mitigate the effects of the euro's diminishing purchasing power and high inflation.
However union leaders, who signed the deal with the government and find themselves caught in the middle of the controversy, admit its shortcomings. Guglielmo Epifani, secretary-general of the CGIL, the largest and most left-leaning union with around 6 million members, told the daily Corriere della Sera that when the December deal finally came after a two-year-long wait and seven union- sanctioned strikes, it was overshadowed by an increase in petrol prices that neutralised the benefits of the deal.
Given that in Italy strikes are generally highly regulated, defying union bosses is an indication that workers do not feel properly represented by their union leadership and that the latter is losing control, observed Renato Fontana, a sociologist at Rome's Sapienza University in the CGIL's newspaper. A "crisis of the union leadership" is how one commentator described the situation.
A general atmosphere of loss of trust in authority at a local and national level is how one ex-minister described the situation in the daily La Repubblica. Gino Giugni warned of the serious social consequences if there is further disintegration of trade union cohesion and unity. In the last few years, the main unions have split alliances. The other two big trade unions, the CISL, in the past linked to catholic workers, and the other union UIL, associated with the centre-left Olive Tree coalition, had broken ranks with the CGIL by signing a "social pact" with the government of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi that included halting strikes at the national level.
Employees' anger is compounded by the loss of purchasing power of wages as real incomes have dwindled in the face of the rising cost of living. Most families of employees with fixed incomes are getting poorer as the gap between prices and wages widens both according to surveys and anecdotal evidence. While inflation is officially measured as 2.8 per cent, the perceived inflation, or how people feel prices have risen, is much higher since the euro's introduction two years ago and the accompanying hike in prices of everything from groceries to clothing. Economists also blame the euro's dramatic rise against the dollar that started last year, and only halted recently, making Italian exports less competitive and curtailing economic growth.
Ministry of Welfare officials have downplayed the recent transport strikes, describing them as "failed protests" due to the silence in the south. Indeed, employees in the public transport companies in the richer north tend to be more assertive, especially with corporations such as the Milanese ATM, one of the few public companies not in the red, knowing that their employers are in a better position to accede to a rise in wages. In the same vein, the transfer of spending control from central authority in Rome to regional bodies coupled with cuts in public expenditure threatens to accentuate the difference between the richer and poorer regions.
In a separate incident earlier in the month, air traffic controllers had gone on strike over lack of contracts causing hundreds of delays and flight cancellations affecting thousands of passengers. This was followed by a walkout this week staged by employees of state-owned airline Alitalia in protest over company rescue plans entailing a loss of hundreds of jobs.
At the time of writing, protestors were gathering around Rome's La Repubblica Square in the centre of the capital, which was gearing up for a day of demonstrations against education reforms that entail cutting back on hours of teaching by professional teachers, and turning schools into a "parking area" for children whose parents cannot afford afternoon activities.
The unions are also warning that they may sanction mass strikes over pension reform plans that favour the expansion of private pension schemes, another controversial issue.
The promise of a "hot" month of stoppages and protests is likely to be fulfiled as Italians in the middle and lower income brackets resent taking the brunt of a shrinking welfare state. The popular strikes are a nagging reminder of the first Berlusconi government's fall in 1994. That government's term was cut short after mass protests over pension reforms triggered a split within the governing coalition. But now the situation is quite different. Today's coalition is more cohesive, with Berlusconi's party Forza Italia in a much stronger position in parliament and smaller coalition members on a less sure footing with electors.
