Italy 2010. Under the pretence of crisis FIAT threatens to close down its factory.
So, it achieves limitations on the right for strike and sick pay,
as well as an increase of the assembly line's velocity.
This is happening in a country with an unemployment rate of 8.6% - unofficially of 16,8%.
30% of adolescents are without work, 3 million are precarious
and 8 million live in poverty.
FIAT begins with a factory in Pomigliano d'Arco in the south of the country.
5000 workers are called to a ballot vote
to decide between the company's dictate or unemployment.
50% of the workers do not vote or opt for “no”.
Because of the votes of white collar employees and foremen
the company's proposal succeeded in 63% of the votes.
At the same time, a smear campaign targeting those who are resisting is started.
...there are no objections to this consensual exchange of ideas.
But the current war preparations are a strong contradiction to this.
We know that in the forthcoming discussion you want to be the judges yourselves,
and we know that, if we stand firm for our interests and do not retreat,
the negotiations are going to lead to a war.
On the other hand, if we agree with you, it leads to slavery.
From “The Diary of a Provocateur” by Dario Paccino
Referring to the serious action that you seem to have committed in our factories,
we inform you that as a precaution and with immediate effect
your employment will be entirely suspended
pending the outcome of the above investigations.
Yours sincerely...
We are dealing with two opposing models:
One which insists on protecting the past
and another one which insists on looking ahead.
Fiat presses charges against 50 workers and unionists.
We are no longer in the 60s.
It is not possible to lay the foundations of the future,
if you are of the opinion that there is a conflict between capital and labour, bosses and workers.
These old-school employers who remained in the 30s but so often talk about the 70s.
If they went out to the streets more often,
maybe they would discover
that there is a new and renewed will
to defend and to strengthen
the achievements gained by the collective agreement
through fighting any form of repression by any means necessary.
Certain forms of behaviour, like a lack of respect for the rules,
cannot be tolerated.
In some cases these criminals even committed sabotage.
If they behave like this, there is little to negotiate.
What's going on? We are serious people and we want to work.
They are the ones who aren't serious and who don't want to work – not us.
Who are "they"?
The ones who are in authority.
They want the impossible. We are willing to work,
but they go beyond the physical limits of the people.
One hears that they want 18 shifts...
We have had 18 shifts before.
We know what that means.
It means to stop living:
you don't have a family any more, no one's there for you.
It means to be here, even though you're not here.
And when you're at home, you don't get anything.
Because the shifts completely mess up your sleeping rhythm, your nutrition, everything...
We know what 18 shifts mean.
Three colleagues from the other shift were fired
and were reinstated later.
Not officially...
What happened? What can you tell me about these three colleagues?
There is a lot of bitterness.
Some colleagues have filled suits for reinstatement.
Unfortunately, Marchionne or FIAT decided not to let them back in.
There is an appeals process,
but right now they are not permitted to work.
It s been the same for 16 years now. We've been going through that for a long time now.
What are the prospects for the future?
Grim, very grim.
I say to myself: Luckily, I only have one child.
If I had two or three, I wouldn't know... It's really bad.
Even for you all, when you'll have children... I don't know.
With such a future we don't have expectations, no security, nothing.
Unfortunately, we can't predict the future of FIAT.
Marchionne has a clear vision. The union is trying to understand
the strategy of FIAT - that's it.
Marchionne says: Waive your rights and do more shifts,
then you'll have more work.
In Pomigliano there was a particular situation:
FIAT introduced several additions to the collective agreement
and we expect them to be introduced in all other subsidiaries as well.
But we don't know that for sure yet.
What are you going to do if they make a proposal?
Are you going to comply with the 18 shifts?
There is going to be a strike for sure.
We have already got some experience.
There was a strike lasting 21 days.
Right now I'm not sure how it might end.
At the moment, it seems that everybody is holding together. Anyway, we are going to see what happens.
Will you personally get involved?
Sure, definitely.
We have to defend the rights that were gained in the past.
There is a contract that hopefully will be maintained and won't be changed.
And we hope that the state will help us.
Lately the state seems to be absolutely absent.
What's it like to work on a assembly line?
It's tough,
tough and alienating.
I don't know, it's stupid.
If you have to go to the toilet, the whole factory knows that you're going to the toilet.
It's just stupid.
Work never stops, it wears ypu down.
They increase the piecework.
They always want more – without hiring more people...
Well, I don't know...
Maybe they think that we are still in our 20s or 30s like when we were first hired.
But we are not!
One can feel that...
Some people begin to feel worn out.
Me too. I'm not as healthy anymore as I was.
Because I'm not even in a good physical shape anymore, I'm very concerned about my future.
I wonder what to do?
I started to work here, when I still was in good shape.
After 16 years, I had severe health problems.
All because I work hard, hard, hard.
After I get off from work, I throw myself on the sofa and I'm not alive anymore.
I get out here and I can't walk anymore...
And what do you do then?
Up until July I was working in a way that
within 107 seconds...
Well, we built 230 cars per shift.
You have approximately 107 seconds
to get the side air bags out of the box,
they look like two „sausages“ – that's what we call them,
to climb into the car,
to sit down,
with a small stool they gave us most of the time,
to take the riveting machine,
to bring both air bags into position,
at first on one side, then on the other one,
then to apply the rivets in order to fix it.
Then you have to take the form and stamp it.
That is something like an individual certificate.
With this stamp I state,
that everything I did, was done alright.
Then you have to get out of the car and go to the next one.
107 Seconds – Workers of the South
It was like walking through a long, badly illuminated tunnel.
They had told us that competition benefits us all,
that work would be a commodity like any other
and that anyone would be able reap its rewards.
They explained to us
that we wouldn't need the rights any more we had fought for for decades,
that they would constrain industrial development and competition,
that they would harm us most.
But after some time, the eyes are able to see in the dark.
This is the story of Giovanni,
Antonio,
and Marco.
Workers of the south.
They got fired because they refused to be exploited,
fired because they are unionists,
fired because they are uncomfortable witnesses to the existence of a particular social class.
This is the story of a class that keeps on existing
and which after years of defeat
resists again.
We organize a march for work, rights and democracy
and we raise the question why law isn't the same for everyone.
So, we're going go to Rome to demand justice.
Right now we are driving to Foggia, to the SOFIM factory,
where motors are produced for FIAT.
Tomorrow we are going to Cassino,
on Wednesday to Pomigliano
and on Thursday to Roma
to the Ministry of Justice
to demand justice.
We want to see if all men are really equal
or if there is a logic of justice that applies only for some people.
The Labour Code is a document
which guarantees dignity for everybody at the workplace.
They are trying to drive out unions from the workplace.
We have seen that. They started in public services.
They began with the mechanics, after that it will be the textiles,
the chemical and all other sectors that will be affected.
There are also attempts at intimidation by other unions.
They are addressing the members of the FIOM and telling them
that they expect all members of this subsidiary to be dismissed
because of what happened in Melfi.
Logically, the people get scared in this situation,
given the low level of unionized labour.
Today, lots of people didn't come out of fear,
although they say they are on our side.
And there is no doubt about that.
In Melfi, there hasn't taken place a meeting for a year.
We've come to this place and they tell us the same thing,
this is the company's strategy.
The central committee said,
that in all metal-working factories meetings end after an hour.
End of story. It almost seems like a strategy.
All of this started as „The Story of Pomigliano“
with this particular notion of „we all agree“.
Even those who signed it, said it was something special of this area,
an area with crime, mafia, ...
Do you remember what they have said?
They said that this wouldn't be transferred as a model to other factories.
I don't believe that to be true.
These days they signed the withdrawal from the nation-wide collective agreement.
So, it's just an excuse
to say the agreement was only valid in Pomigliano.
We will bear the consequences, beginning in Melfi.
At the Sevel, where we were yesterday, they told us the same.
We are facing a ruthless attack on democracy.
We are saying:
If this is an agreement they fear, as if it was a good one,
why don't they say that at meetings?
Why don't they make clear which are the beneficial aspects for the workers then?
The truth is, there are no advantages for the workers
and therefore they are being distracted from what is really going on.
I ask you to pay attention at this stage,
because no one is immune.
No one in Italy is immune against this plan
and therefore we must be careful.
Thank you for your attention, colleagues.
With the entry of precariousness, Italian companies don't do anything other
than recruit their workers trough temp agencies
and after two years of temporary employment, they are hired with a fixed-term contract.
After another period of two or three years,
only those workers are permanentky hired
who conncede that the factory
is not the one they used to know.
Instead it's a place where workers are subjected to the bosses decisions.
And once they are in the company, comes the cherry on the cake:
The collective agreement is destroyed
and after all, there isn't even protection against unjustified dismissal any more.
The employer can dismiss you at any time
because they even want to have a free hand when it comes to firing.
If someone tells you,
that workers on strike
can be sanctioned by dismissal
this means the end of trade unions.
Also it means the end of the worker as a subject
who sells his work force in a factory
and, hence, wants his rights to be respected.
Why does this attack happen at this particular moment?
Unfortunately, Italy, Europe and the whole world are undergoing a general crisis
and as a result of that there is a crisis of work. 239 00:19:55,900 --> 00:19:58,900 The worker in the factory is scared.
He is afraid of losing his work, because he knows that outside there is only scorched earth.
So, they benefit from the crisis
in order to establish a new relationship with the union.
Therefore, the workers must create a new resistance at the factories
and those who are outside should begin to pull theirselves together.
Listen up! It's not only the fate of a single trade union that is at stake,
but it's the fate of all the workers
Without rights in the factory, you die!
The suspension of rights doesn't help the Italian population in anyway.
It started with the compensation of inflation,
with this fairy tail that without the compensation we would be better off,
and workers would benefit.
But that's not what happened.
Then they went on with the apprenticeship contracts
which first lasted for 12 month, later on for 24 months and since that was still not enough
they introduced contracts with a duration of 36 months – but that wasn't sufficient either.
Today, there are incredible forms of flexibility and it's still not enough for them.
What else do we have to give?
The Italian population, the workers, the citizens, the students, the schools,...
...what else do they have to give?
The Labour Code sets out a fundamental right
that every worker has to work.
It applies to everyone, whatever their workplace
– be it an office or a factory.
But it also states rights which must be respected by owners and bosses.
From the point on where one of both principles is missing, as far as I know,
you can no longer speak of a civilised country or world.
We are the ones from Alfa Romeo,
we are the ones of the autumn,
who say all together:
„We don't do night-shifts anymore.“
We are the ones from Alfa Romeo,
who tell the engineers:
„Your scheduling is truly a pain in the ass!“
We are the ones from Alfa Romeo,
we don't want to die from work,
and we say: „Enough is enough!
This shit has to end now!“
We are the ones from Alfa Romeo,
who tell the management:
„We keep on fighting one minute longer than the boss.“
And if the management doesn't comply with our demands,
we are going to shut down production until we have won!
We want to emphasize to you
that this is an attack on the freedom and rights existing in Italy.
From schools to factories,
all other work places and offices...
If we don't stand firm, this definitely is going to be the end,
the end of everything, of democracy in Italy.
In order to avoid a confrontation they decide
to donate the meeting hours to the bosses.
They want to send us back to the 1950s in a flash.
So, we have to be cautious, fight and oppose us to this plan
The nation-wide collective agreement belongs to all of us,
it has to be defended and strengthened.
We are here to tell FIM and UILM
that they need a mandate from the workers
before they make a move and sign the agreement.
The ballot has to be carried out, no matter what FIAT wants.
The ballot has to be carried out because it's about the rights.
The workers are the ones to decide!
Thanks to the colleagues from Melfi,
who came here to report on their adventures
and who are in this fight with us.
Solidarity with the workers from Melfi!
Solidarity with the values of democracy and rights!
Workers, tomorrow two hours strike at the end of the shift!
The situation we are going through in Cassino,
is almost identical to that of other FIAT subsidiaries.
There is major concern about what's happening right now.
Mayor concern, because the attacks on the collective agreement
don't only affect some employees.
Everybody here understands
that the attack on the collective agreement is the instrument
for implementing what they want to implement in Pomigliano.
Therefore, everyone is curiously awaiting forthcoming developments.
There is a great sensitivity,
and there is a necessity felt by many
for someone capable to
explain at meetings what's really going on.
Because what's happening right now
is going to have mayor effects on the working and living conditions
– not only now, but in the future as well.
Under the pretext of fighting violence and damage,
FIAT put itself in a judge's position and has prejudged the accused
– even before the real judge could come to a decision about whether the accusations were justified or not –
by suspending them without paying compensations.
Today the FIAT workers demand
immediate reinstatement of all workers
who were fired without reason.
Let those suspended back to work!
We have to leave this meeting with a new and renewed will
to defend the achievements gained by the collective agreement
and to completely realize them
through the affirmation of our will
to fight back any form of repression with all means necessary.
Never mind the level it may appear on,
be it in the company, at a political or a governmental level.
The working class is not going to retreat.
It's ready to resume the fight immediately,
against all those trying to limit its achievements.
...the colleagues Barozzino, Lamorte and Pignatelli
- you might have read about them in the newspapers.
They were not able to speak at some meetings,
because they were denied access.
Today we invited them to Cosenza,
so they can tell us about what has happened that night at the assembly line.
Next one to talk is Giovanni Barozzino, a delegate of FIOM-CGIL at FIAT Melfi,
he was fired and reinstated by court order.
I'm going to explain what has happened that night:
FIAT had decided to send 1700 workers per shift on short-time.
Short-time meant they got paid by the public hand.
With a high-handed attitude
and as a shame to democracy,
they decided at the same time to produce another 150 cars per day.
150 cars per day!
Without putting any additional workers on the assembly line. 358 00:29:59,500 --> 00:30:01,500 That's what we are denouncing!
A serious trade union should demand dialogues in order to understand the following:
First, why do the workers ask us to come to the line? Because they can't comply with their numbers.
Second, why doesn't it appear strange
that they demand short-time on one hand,
while they want 150 additional cars per day on the other?
I ask all of you to reflect on these things.
We didn't get a single answer and the strike began.
First, we went on strike in one hall
with 107 workers.
65 out of the 107 went on strike.
Finally, the factory stood still.
The cars couldn't leave the factory because they function as sequencer. 371 00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:48,400 Usually, they arrive exactly when the line starts. If the line stops,
Usually, they arrive just when the line starts.
If the line stops, the cars won't leave.
They company itself blocks them.
They should stop talking nonsense.
We won't put up with that!
That they have gone this far,
we aren't to be blamed, but they are.
Those who are said to always be in opposition are to be blamed.
Those wanting to be guarantors of democracy, rights, dignity:
But it's not enough to just verbalize, you have to put it into practice.
Actually, I just want to let you know how we experience the factory.
The right-wing government
obviously is not on the workers' side:
Tax relief for companies and entrepreneurs.
So, of course we vote for the leftist government.
But the left government doesn't revoke the right government's measures
- which it's whole electoral campaign was focused on -
but it even cuts down compensations and the welfare state.
But it's not because of the workers.
They blame them for not voting the left any more.
But the workers wonder where it has gone, the left? They can't find it any more!
At work we feel abandoned
by trade unions as well as by politicians.
Those working in factories know very well
that there is plenty of pressure.
Once you have reached a certain point,
you use all your good will
but at last it's not enough.
Work is getting unbearable – in a physical sense.
It's not possible to fulfill what's asked any longer.
What has happened to us, could function very well
as a precursor for what is still to come,
if the intended changes are implemented into the Labour Code.
According to the industrialists, the Code should be abolished completely.
To be honest, I'm not very keen on being treated like a slave.
Thanks for your attention!
We have been informed that because of the union's standing
and because of the strikes which were realized at FIAT during the last days,
FIAT has announced to take back the suspensions.
In Turin, the workers were informed about the withdrawal of the suspensions
during the live screening of the court case against FIAT.
Some of the suspended are going back to work within three days, others at the end of the month.
I'm a suspended worker from Hall 82.
First, I want to thank all of you,
because if I and the other suspended come back to FIAT,
it's not because FIAT has done us a favour, but because all of you
have brought us back in.
Every single one and at once! Every single one and at once!
I have worked at FIAT since 13 years, down in SATA Melfi.
I was hired at the age of 21.
When my formation was over, I immediately enrolled in the FIOM.
After a year, I became a member of the regional presidency.
I had to change the department several times against my will.
I guess, back then there was a plan,
to oppress everyone
who tried to spread unionism amongst the majority of the workers.
Well, I can say that I have run trough
all departments and all shifts in Melfi.
Back then, all of us were young folks from the Basilicata,
full of hope and enthusiasm.
Later, after some time,
through talks outside the factory,
through the advertisement out there – we got to know tough reality.
We've learned that inside the factory things were different.
Everything happening in the working sphere,
the attacks on the workers,
the attitude of FIAT and Marchionne towards the abolition of workers' rights...
All of this has come a long way.
Some years ago, FIAT has decided to dismiss us,
in order to have an easy game against
worker's movements inside the factory.
Then, 316 persons were moved to Nola,
because FIAT wanted them to be removed from that factory,
They were considered to be dangerous workers,
because they had instigated strikes and struggles for worker's rights.
In my opinion, the worst incident took place in Pomigliano.
FIAT said: either you accept what we say
or we move to another place
- despite all attempts of mediation.
There wasn't space for real negotiations.
Neither was there space
to formulate common proposals
which might have been even more efficient.
FIAT doesn't want any obstacles in its way.
They want laws designed for the labour market.
They want third world conditions in FIAT factories.
They want to abolish the Labour Code which was gained after years of struggle.
Obviously, they are trying to achieve it trough dismissals
and repression, through relocations of workers and factories
and finally through “banishment departments”,
some kind of ghetto departments where people are sent to,
because, in one way or another, they have fought for their rights.
That's what FIAT wants,
that's what the bosses want,
that's what capital wants:
total exploitation in the factories in order to reduce costs.
Keep in mind that Angeletti and Bonnanni didn't even manage
to speak at a party of their friends.
Because of massive protests,
Bonanni wasn't able to speak at the Democratic Party's festival.
The whole political sphere got upset.
So, what should we as workers say about it?
That we've earned 750 € per month for the last 3 years? That we are being blackmailed at work?
And that now they are taking away the collective agreement.
In my opinion Bonanni was lucky to just have received a smoke granade
and lot of whistling. He would have deserved something completely different.
He is abolishing our rights.
He is abolishing our dignity.
What does Bonanni expect the workers to do? Applause?
I don't know what he excepts apart from whistling?
Who sells the rights, doesn't deserve anything else. He who sows the wind, shall reap the whirlwind!
So, try to imagine what it means to work 7.5 hours in a row
- until the last minute.
While there is a water dispenser at a distance of 2 meters, but you're not allowed to drink.
Finally, within the last hour a supervisor comes up to you
and tells you to stay half an hour longer. So, you won't be able to eat.
That's what we are talking about. About people that came from far away,
in the 70s. People that were hired on a regional basis.
People that get up at 3.30 in the morning,
in order to be at the factory at 5.30 and to work 7.5 hours there.
When they have been on their feet for 12 to 13 hours,
the company tells them to keep working instead of eating. That's what we are talking about!
The words of Minister Tremonti were clear:
For a country like Italy it's a luxury to invest in security.
It's a complete shame that a minister tells you this.
According to statistics, 6 workers die every day.
Why? It's a form of inhibition that leads us up to this point.
Someone who has worked in the factory for 30 years doesn't enter an insecure warehouse.
He says to himself: "I won't enter! I'm not crazy, am I?"
Someone with an atypical contract, on the contrary, would do it.
A person like me - with 3 children, sole earner, atypical contract - is susceptible to blackmail.
Therefore this person won't report a work accident.
He/She is even afraid of his/her own shadow.
So if everything goes well, we work 4 days per week.
Two models are produced here: The 147 and the 159.
The 159 is going to occupy workers for 2 to 3 days.
The 147 is a car which nowadays is hardly being produced.
Since last July, 2000 workers having produced the 147
are not needed any more.
We don't know how all this is going to end.
Colleagues from Pomigliano,
make yourselves heard and raise your voices,
against Marchionne and his fascist plan.
Our colleagues from Melfi were the first ones to bear the consequences of his plan.
At this moment, everyone knows what the problem is.
FIAT wasn't satisfied with the ballot outcome.
Because of that they made a so called “plan C”:
On the 19th, a new company called "Newco"
was enlisted in the Commercial Register in Turin.
Thereby, FIAT obviously tries to bypass all rules.
Currently, we are experiencing an unprecedented repression in this company.
Besides from working short time,
workers experience a political and trade union terrorism.
Especially members of the FIOM are under a constant thread
because of their membership and their beliefs.
Also because of their assumed voting behaviour.
Obviously, FIAT is not able to figure out who the individuals were.
Nevertheless, they try to figure out who voted against it.
We all know the question raised by Marchionne
about the collective agreement,
which was against all rules of democracy and against Italian constitution.
It is clear that it gets workers
and the trade union into deep trouble.
Let's show them our solidarity!
Nevertheless, I think we should give an answer to all members
by organizing ballots.
The worker's vote is binding.
The worker's vote is the salt of democracy,
because signing the contract or leaving it depends on the worker's opinion.
To be for or against Marchionne's opinion.
Listen, is the goal of this trip returning to work? What is our goal?
When is your trip really going to end?
We are not giving up until we're able to return to work.
That's what we demand. The court order was clear, so we are not giving up.
In history there were many things
weakening the workers and their rights.
I remember when we discussed about social partnership.
Unfortunately, we must be aware,
that social partnership with all its contents and values
which might have seemed acceptable in former times
was, at last, only an agreement to jobs.
We are facing a drama.
The union has to negotiate the sell-out of rights.
I believe it's time to change the tune!
To say no to Marchionne, FIAT and the government! Everyone to Rome!
During these 20, 25 years of social partnership
we only have lost rights.
Either we weren't good at negotiating,
or we haven't been wrong when we thought social partnership was a springboard
for social achievements in this country.
Pomigliano supports the suspended colleagues from Melfi!
Reinstated by the Labour Court!
We are here in Pomigliano because of the same reason,
like in all other FIAT subsidiaries in Italy.
Basically, we want to share our experiences.
We don't want to say: the workers in Pomigliano are alone.
On the contrary, I think,
a broad struggle has to root at Pomiliano.
It has to unify all subsidiaries leading to real negotiations.
I consider all of us to be precarious.
We're all Palestinians.
We're all Africans because of the division of Italy.
There are families that own billions. They are multi-billionaires...
There is no middle class any more. We're all poor.
Nowadays, you can't say any more a teacher is part of the bourgeois classes.
For me, a teacher is like a worker at FIAT.
He earns the same pay, he gets maltreated,
– in another way, but still. The same happens in the public sector.
I think this inequality leads to a division of the struggles.
Everyone is fighting on its own.
Is there a possibility that someone in Italy
starts thinking about a unification of struggles
which lead to a strong attack?
We can't bear any more.
The workers must... We must send a message to the workers.
We must be determined.
Enough whining!
The boss started an attack.
He has declared war on us and we must accept the declaration of war.
The mendacious heroes
It's a war which is being fought on all front-lines. Day after day.
Words are weapons.
Distorting their significance is an effective strategy.
Strike is turned into sabotage.
Work is dying and the workers are reduced to “human resources”.
Throwing a few eggs is considered an attack on democracy.
So, reality is being hidden by a morbid representation of negative sensations
and by the sexual conventions of the dominant class.
It's pointless to deny: the class conflict exists.
Tyky, Poland, June 13th, 2010
When they moved the production to Poland,
they told us, if we worked hard
and exceeded all production limits,
we would be able to keep our jobs and to create new ones. That's what we did.
Today, the factory is the biggest and most productive of Europe.
At the end of last year, rumors began to circulate
saying that FIAT wanted to move its production back to Italy.
Now, they want Italian workers to accept worse work conditions.
Like always.
They tell their employees: If you aren't willing to work like slaves,
there will be someone else to fill in for you.
It can't go on like that.
We really have to stop going down to our knees. We have to start fighting.
When Giovanni's, Antonio's and Marco's 5 day long march for rights
will come to an end,
our initiative won't stop.
FIOM is calling for a mass demonstration on October, 16th in Rome.
We are addressing all metal-workers, all Italian workers and social forces
and the whole public.
This goes out to all those thinking that democracy and rights are important
and that they should have a central significance again.
As we have put it in a slogan:
"For us, work is a common good and an element of public interest."
We've noticed that there is a unprecedented solidarity
at all workplaces we have been to.
On the basis of this solidarity,
we have to construct the future of the Italian working class
This is a call to all of you to demonstrate on the 16th here in Rome.
This is not only about the FIOM.
It's not about the power struggles between different unions.
It's about the future of workers in Italy.
It can't be accepted that a company like FIAT decides
to invest 20 billion Euro in Italy,
while at the same time it's doing reverse outsourcing.
Production is retrieved from Poland, although it is done well
- I myself have a factory there.
Yet it's brought back to Italy, to Pomigliano which is a very difficult place...
If FIAT, in return, demands the arrangement of a collective agreement,
as well as working 21 shifts and a higher rate of productivity.
If they, in return, request the workers,
to respect that,
it has to be considered an attack on our rights!
The actual crisis is very serious.
It is used to determine how work conditions
will be when the crisis is over.
Precarity doesn't just mean some lousy laws being passed
and different working conditions.
If you think about it, the precariat and low wages
were determining conditions for a certain form of scientific development
which now in times of crisis is fundamental.
It's not possible to return to the past,
to the culture of permanent jobs.
In this country this has produced many problems
and a high unemployment rate.
It also led to a rising shadow economy.
It created a logic of absenteeism and idleness.
In order to change the working conditions in our country,
companies and governments act in two ways:
Abolition of the right to strike
and abolition of the right to bargain collectively about labour conditions.
They carry it out in an authoritarian way.
Stirring up the conflicts harms everyone.
In situations like this, we really have to put aside class war.
This is a situation – more than ever before –
where the fate of workers and companies is a common one.
Either we will be winning the competition
and there will be work and salary for our employees.
Or we won't persist on the international market and then we'll all lose.
From Turin to Pomigliano, we do not bow to blackmail.
The challenge of Antonio, Giovanni and Marco awaits us in the streets.
The vote of Pomigliano is a proof of dignity.
We see the anger and non-conformism of hundreds of thousands of exploited,
workers, precarious, students and migrants.
After years of silence, as a consequence of the unbearable conditions,
the revolt explodes.
We are sick of it!
We're ready to react
and we're not afraid of anything.
Nothing is going to hold us back!
Piss off, Berlusconi! Piss off!
We know that our class-consciousness is being shaped.
Today we are taking the first step to create a worker's movement
which is able to negotiate given the right circumstances.
But if the cirsumstances demand it, we're even better at saying “no” and entering into conflict!
Anyways, we won't draw back.
Rights are not negotiable! Let's go for the general strike!
We say it clearly: We won't keep our heads down.
We have to unify all forces
in order to reject this disgraceful plan,
Marchionne wants to implement.
We will not permit
workers to be turned against each other
- neither on a national nor on a European level.
Like in France: Strike to the bitter end!
The decision of how to strike
is up to the workers!
When are we going to wake up?
Marchionne is serious about it, he is not joking.
He's doing a good job as a boss!
When are we going to do our job well?
We request all workers to organize at once:
Independently, from below and without waiting for the union's bureaucracy!
Giovanni, Antonio und Marco are still fighting for their reinstatement.
Meanwhile, FIAT continues its nation-wide attack threatening to relocate production
and dismissing about a million persons.
Even Mirafiori is lost, the city of the historical worker's struggles of Turin.
At the ballot vote 53% opt “yes” to avoid losing their work.
Government and opposition applaud, while unions remain silent.