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The Cycle of Struggles of Logistics Workers in Italy

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Interview during the meeting of European base unions | Berlin, March 17, 2014

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Karim, student/logistics worker: I was a university student in Marocco. I studied in my last year.

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Suddenly my father came and said:

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"Look, I have found a work contract in Italy. If you want to go..."

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I said: "But I still go to university,

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and on TV I saw

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that there is a terribly crisis in Italy and Europe,

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and people do not find work."

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He answered: "If there was a crisis then they would not send this work contract!

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Then they would not look for people abroad. Are you joking?

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The Italians do not want to work. 

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They do not want to do certain jobs.

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There are jobs, but these people do not want to do them."

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So he convinced me. "You are right," I said.

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"If there was no demand, they would not ask me to come.

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They would not come to Marocco to search for me."

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So I agreed, but not just like that.

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First I wanted to know what I would earn.

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They showed me the contract.

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The contract said: 1.200 euros basic wage

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plus two monthly wages extra per year.

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I calculated and thought,

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if I go to Italy I need a few things, the rent, the first few days...

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Therefore, I sold what I had in order to have at least 5,000 to 6,000 euros with me

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so I could stay afloat at the beginning

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when I do not speak the language and don't know a lot of things.

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So I sold everything I had and came here.

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When I got my first wages later, I realized

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that the whole wage slip was wrong.  

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I earn 600 to 700 euros when there is not much work to do.

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When there is nothing to do I work 4 or 5 hours.

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When there is a lot to do I work 16 hours. That is obligatory!

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If I did not work 15 or 16 hours they would fire me the next day.

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That means I am being blackmailed, and there is no escape.

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Then I started calculating and realized that I was getting cheated.

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The wage was wrong, and at the end of the year I did not get the two extra monthly wages

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no paid holidays, nothing!

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So I am being cheated, and I cannot go back either

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since I sold everything I owned.

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So I am trapped.

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When some of us come back people in Marocco often think

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that they cannot work, that they don't want to work.

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Therefore, they treat them very badly.

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But the reality is very different: 

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It is impossible to cope with the situation here, the level of exploitation...

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You are used to live in a certain way,

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and suddenly you have to deal with the blackmail, by these wages

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and the residence permit.

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This incredible arrogance of the foremen who treat you badly and insult you. 

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That way I spent 5 year in this warehouse

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until the self-organization of the workers started initiated by S.I. Cobas.

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That is when the struggle started, and now we are satisfied at work,

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nearly without foremen, and nobody shouts at you any more.

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All know what they have to do.

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We get the two extra monthly wages, paid holiday.

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I am not afraid anymore.

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Because when someone got ill earlier and could not work

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they still had to show up,

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otherwise, if the boss heard that you could not work, he fired you!

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There are people who work with two or three slipped discs!

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Slipped disc, that is when you break your back and cannot work at all.

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I know some peole in different warehouses

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who do work with slipped discs!

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That is a level of exploitation that is higher than in the times of the feudal labor service.

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They have the doctor's certificate and show it to the employer and he says:

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"If you want to work, work, if not, go home. I don't five a f**k."

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Like with a lemon: I juice it, press out as much as possible;

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and there is still something to squeeze out, that's good;

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but if you are finished, then ciao and bye bye!"

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I am the national coordinator of S.I. Cobas.

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"Sindacato Intercategoriale Cobas" (intercategorical union base committees)

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In Italian Cobas means "base committee".

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Intercategorial union, because we have no trade union association.

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We represent all workers, whether they are mail carriers or whatever.

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We don't think that it is important to divide the union according to sectors.

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Because all proletarians are proletarians, in specific situations

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but today, when capitalism is in crisis,

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it creates the same conditions for all.

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The labor laws are very similar everywhere.

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There are small differences, but we tend to emphasize not the differences

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but whatever unites the workers, not what divides them.

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I began in '68 at the university, at the Politechnic in Milano.

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I studied engineering.

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After I worked in a school 

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I began to work in a metalworking factory

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in order to connect to the workers and learn.

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Then I was a unionist for two years, at the trade union associations.

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Then I realized it was all about control, and I went back to the school.

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After that, starting in 1972, I was more activ politically than in a union.

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Then me and some other comrades

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started to develop a practice of intervention inside companies.

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We set up the most important workers' groups,

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above all in the metal industry in Italy.

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We made most of our experiences in the auto sector.

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At FIAT we had the strongest and most important delegates in the auto sector.

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We had the majority of the delegates 
- against the main trade union associations.

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That's where we made our first experiences,

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since we won the first battle against the trade union associations there.

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Then, in the 90s, we started to expand our critique

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of the trade union associations which are more integrated into the state.

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And then the base unions were formed.

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Around 1990, 1993, more or less.

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That was my start in a base union, which was called Slai Cobas

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and was present mostly in the metal industry, the auto sector.

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Over the years I had a lot of experiences with the Romani people

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because I organized mainly Romani migrants.

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For three or four years I organized around 1,000 Romanis in Milano.

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At the time we worked mostly with migrants.

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In Italy, the Romanis were mostly seasonal workers at the time,

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from Romania, Yugoslawia, Albania; they worked on the fields.

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But they were not the Romanis of the "old type".

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This experience gave us an understanding of the situation of migrants.

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I became a communist when I was young.

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I went inside the factory because of a political decision for social engagement.

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I spent nearly ten years there, in a big metalworking factory.

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I was a shopfloor delegate, and we played an active role in many struggles,

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even though the restructuring

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between the late 70s and early 80s

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led to defeats of this movement.

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After that I was politically active for 20 years 

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until I finally broke with a political organization

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that had turned into a sect.

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I searched politically and in the movement for a way,

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at the beginning mostly with migrant workers,

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by setting up schools for teaching Italian to foreigners

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and by participating in the movement of migrants that existed in Milano.

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Still, there was a weak point:

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Either it consists of migrants' organizations with national and ethnic characteristics,

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which often stay confined to the countries of origin

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and often have links to the governments there,

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or it tries to be a movement uniting all migrants,

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but that never worked in Italy. Strong organizations were never founded,

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like those that have existed, for instance, in France at certain times.

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It is a fact that a migrant is also a worker

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and, therefore, experiences capitalist exploitation. 

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Still, struggles explicitly for their rights as migrants, e.g. the right of residence,

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are translated into symbolic actions,

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but without generating any strength.

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In contrast, the struggles in the logistics sector

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which were started by migrants as exploited workers

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immediately expressed considerable strength and energy,

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and they even became a model for Italian workers.

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Last year I devoted a large part of my time to these struggles.

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I participated in the blockades

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and organized open consultations of S.I.Cobas in Piacenza.

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Most of the time workers come alone to speak about their problems.

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One was fired, another one got a low wage or was mobbed at the workplace.

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As long as they are alone, it is difficult to find a militant answer. 

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Then you have to use all available legal means.

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Or you exert pressure by using the fact that you have accumulated power in some places.

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It is interesting to see how the exploitation breaks ground:

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The exploitation is increasingly organized illegally,

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contracts are not respected, wage calculations are wrong,

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and in order to avoid paying social insurance premiums and overtime

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many working hours are not listed on the wage slips.

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Some of these hours are noted as commuting time, so that no premiums have to be paid.

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When these people retire they will not get a pension.

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It is also possible that groups of workers show up.

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That happens nearly every day or week, because they realize they were robbed.

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And then they can found a new Cobas.

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A group of workers says: "Okay, then we enlist in S.I.Cobas."

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We tell them then: "Look for others, because as long as you are alone

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we can go to court

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but you need to know that you will most probably be fired then!

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They will make it impossible for you to work there.

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But if you get 10 others like you,

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then we can fight against a dismissal,

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we can build up power and then push through our rights."

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The logistics sector is vital for capital,

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not only in Italy - on the international level.

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It was structured in a form that includes subcontractors.

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The contractors, the parent companies, subcontract another smaller company,

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for instance, the SRL, which subcontracts another company,

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which subcontracts the association of cooperatives, which subcontracts small cooperatives.

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These small cooperatives look for people who are supposed to work for the companies.

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At the same time, they hide the face of the company itself. 

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In that way they can exploit those who work.

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Therefore, the majority of workers in the logistics sector are migrants.

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The majority is brought here from other countries.

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Even through there are many people in Italy who are trying to find work

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they are looking for people who are prepard to get exploited.

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They don't even give them a chance to learn the language

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or enough time to keep up the contact with their countries.

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They come here and have to work up to 16 hours per day.

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There are people who work up to 16 hours per day

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and in their wage slip only 40 or 80 working hours are listed.

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Unbearable, the extent of exploitation, regarding the people as humans

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and regarding the wage payments.

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Those who work for these cooperatives

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who have mostly only temporary residence permits, had always been too scared to protest

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because protesting meant that you were fired,

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and being fired means to lose the temporary residence permit.

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Because the law, like the Bossi-Fini-law, says that

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when you lose your job

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you also lose your residence permit, and you have to go home.

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That means they were always blackmailed at work.

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They did not get support from the institutions.

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or any support from the society.

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If they go to the unions, for instance, they hear:

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"Your bosses are too powerful. You just risk losing your job!

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Carry on doing your job, otherwise you will get problems."

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These workers often went to the labor court,

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but nobody has ever reacted.

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No actions by the labor inspectorate and the financial police.

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Newspapers don't report this on the logistics sector and don't want to know about it.

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The logistics sector is about the circulation of commodities.

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We do not know what commodities are transported in these boxes.

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If you look at who is working with these cooperatives

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you see that they are all from Southern Italy.

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Over time we realized that there are close relations

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between the mafia, the logistics sector and the cooperatives.

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So we understood that the fear of the labor inspectorate

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has to do with the fact that the mafia is managing the whole thing.

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The people who worked in the warehouses did not know what they should do

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and who they should turn to.

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The movement was started a short while ago with this union S.I.Cobas.

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It started to explain to the people in the warehouses

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that the only chance to defend yourself lies in the self-organization of the workers.

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That we have to organize and defend ourselves:

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"Nobody defends you, if you do not start to fight.

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That is the only chance to improve your situation."

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Here, the struggles begann in the biggest warehouses,

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like at DHL, TNT, and GLS.

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Those are the best known and biggest international warehouses.

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It began in several cities.

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Many workers work in these warehouses, 300 to 500 in each of them.

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These workers have started to self-organize,

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to go outside, and to block the warehouses.

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They constitute some power.

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They have understood that unity among the workers bears great power

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that can free itself.

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I just found my role in the logistics sector when I started to get involved.

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I have to say that the beginning was difficult

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because I was faced with the mafia and the camorra, and that wasn't fun.

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That means, at the start it was rather a struggle fought on the physical level.

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But through all the experience I had,

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and because I was not a leader,

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I was capable to be connected to all movements,

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and I was seen as a reference point by all movements that came together.

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That was decisive

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because at the beginning the workers did not come together.

243
00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:00,960
Only few organized themselves then.

244
00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:05,120
But when the others saw that 100 people stood in front of the company,

245
00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:08,080
willing to stand there as strike pickets,

246
00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:11,280
everyone came and started to organize themselves.

247
00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:18,160
It was like opening a bottle of champagne, and then it just begann to bubble.

248
00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:26,840
This became an important factor.

249
00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:30,600
The first struggle lasted 8 months.

250
00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:35,200
In a single warehouse - 8 months.

251
00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:41,360
But it was wonderful because we won on all levels.

252
00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:48,560
Where was that? 
- In Origgio, north of Milano. The Bennet.

253
00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:58,400
In that warehouse all problems of the comrades

254
00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:02,240
with expressing their standpoints, dissolved.

255
00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:07,400
Like flies on a pile of shit. Everyone came.

256
00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:14,560
All Social Centers, all ex-brigadists, all ex-ex this and that.

257
00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:18,120
This fight became a symbol for the struggles in Milano,

258
00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:22,240
for the renascence of conflicts.

259
00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:29,680
Already after the first victory they understood that this was a different movement,

260
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:34,920
and when we intervened in a second company

261
00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:38,920
we faced enormous resistance and lost.

262
00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:43,200
The first defeat. The second company and the first defeat.

263
00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:45,640
18 sacked workers.

264
00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:49,480
This company was organized by the English Post.

265
00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:59,240
We lost because they deployed 50 policemen there, 24 hours a day, for 43 days.

266
00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:03,120
As if it was Zeica d'Italia, that is weapons production.

267
00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:09,680
Problably, there was an arrangement between the minister

268
00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:16,120
and this English company that is linked to the English Post.

269
00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:20,280
It became a zone we could not enter.

270
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:23,440
They had intuitively seen the danger.

271
00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:29,760
Because of the movement's lack of power to act on the national level

272
00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:35,080
this struggle was the only victorious.

273
00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:39,440
They understood that something had happened that from a bourgois perspective

274
00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:42,960
had to be suppressed immediately.

275
00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:51,840
On the other hand, by using so much energy against the struggle

276
00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:56,760
they made it also bigger.

277
00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:08,960
From the start we followed the example of the Wobblies in the US.

278
00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:16,200
We moved the cooperatives' workers from one cooperative to the next.

279
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:20,440
We never held the workers in their own company.

280
00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:24,600
We always emphasized their common interests

281
00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:28,800
and pointed out that the workers have to create more connections among themselves

282
00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:33,000
to be able to fight back in the logistics sector.

283
00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:37,240
Because this sector was weaker than other sectors.

284
00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:42,120
First it seemed they were strong, but since we acted in illegal ways

285
00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:44,640
they were much weaker than us.

286
00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:47,520
During strike pickets, we are not allowed

287
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:54,200
to block the transport of commodities, means or production or people.

288
00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:59,040
However, we blocked everything, in a completely illegal manner.

289
00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:04,520
We stood for 6 or 7 hours, or for 2 or 3 days, and blocked their trucks etc.

290
00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:09,080
Open conflicts, complaints to the police...

291
00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:13,360
But then we realized we could win,

292
00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:17,760
and each time we went on strike, even just for 4 or 5 hours

293
00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:21,240
the bosses lost 200,000 or 300,000 euros.

294
00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:26,920
And after the first few times it was clear that we had to be taken serious.

295
00:26:27,120 --> 00:26:31,120
That was the final result.

296
00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:38,120
That lead to the complaints at the police. I have 38 complaints against me.

297
00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:40,360
And now the lawsuits are happening.

298
00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:44,440
I have a three year ban for one city.

299
00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:47,440
We have a series of legal cases in front of us.

300
00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:52,440
These workers have started to self-organize and carry out large strikes.

301
00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:59,520
They had their forged wages slips as evidence.

302
00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:07,560
The wage slips with 0 to 40 hours per month...

303
00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:13,320
So they had evidence they could present to the judges, to the public,

304
00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:15,520
and to the labor inspectorate,

305
00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:19,320
that their protest was reasonable.

306
00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:24,240
Besides the struggle they also went to court.

307
00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:28,560
So they started to win over territory.

308
00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:30,800
And they have done more:

309
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:37,600
The people from the big warehouses went to those in the small warehouses

310
00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:42,320
and told them they had won in the struggle for their rights,

311
00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:48,080
and that they are not alone. 

312
00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:54,640
If they needed support from the other warehouses they would all come and help.

313
00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:58,080
That's how it happened in Piacenza, at IKEA.

314
00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:04,800
There were only few people who protested and took part in the strike,

315
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:10,160
just 10 out of 300 workers there! Only 10 went on strike.

316
00:28:10,360 --> 00:28:16,000
But people from other warehouses came to support the struggle!

317
00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:24,360
Every day many people came over from TNT and other warehouses.

318
00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:30,400
They blocked the gates at IKEA for four months.

319
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:36,440
They won the reinstatement of workers and correct wage calculations.

320
00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:42,120
And their dignity was restored. Now they work with the heads up and without fear.

321
00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:45,360
And all the others who could not overcome their fear 

322
00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:52,880
have seen the victory, and they all went to register

323
00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:57,120
and take part in the self-organization of workers.

324
00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:06,800
This struggle has not only united the different warehouses

325
00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:11,040
and the different nationalities within the warehouses

326
00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:16,600
- since in every warehouse we find up to 16 nationalities:

327
00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:24,840
Africans, Europeans, people from the Americas.

328
00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:30,680
Apart from that, the struggle brought some unions together 

329
00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:32,520
that had been sleeping beforehand.

330
00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:35,800
The struggle has united the Social Centers.

331
00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:41,960
There are many Social Centers in Italy, but they are not connected.

332
00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:46,760
There was a Social Center in Milano that had no connections

333
00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:50,920
to Social Centers in Bologna or in Naples.

334
00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:57,400
But in this struggle the Social Centers have declared their solidarity

335
00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:08,240
with the logistics workers in Naples, Bologna, and Milano.

336
00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:13,720
When there is a all-Italian demonstration of logistics workers

337
00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:17,800
all segments meet at the same demonstration.

338
00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:22,200
They communicate with each other and start to overcome the division.

339
00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:27,440
So we started to build a militant movement,

340
00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:33,240
not only in the logistics sector. The logistics workers often

341
00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:38,200
go to demonstrations for housing rights 

342
00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:41,840
and also support other sectors.

343
00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:47,080
They don't just focus on the logistics sector.

344
00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:52,120
Now they help the metal workers, too.

345
00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:59,800
They have already helped the hotel workers.

346
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:06,880
So we conquer different sectors and different warehouses now.

347
00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:12,320
With this struggle from below we won against the cooperatives

348
00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:17,440
and the companies.

349
00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:23,240
But there is a company that creates more problems for us.

350
00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:27,160
We still fight a fierce battle there.

351
00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:30,880
That warehouse is Granarolo in Bologna.

352
00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:47,680
The workers worked in cooperatives that are members of an association of cooperatives

353
00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:54,840
called SGB. It works for a logistics firm called CTL

354
00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:58,280
that is part of the contractor Granarolo.

355
00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:03,000
So there is a hierarchy with several levels

356
00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:05,360
before you get to the ordinary workers.

357
00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:16,720
These cooperatives cut their wages by 35 percent.

358
00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:22,680
With a wage that was already wrongly calculated.

359
00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:27,560
They earn about 1,000 to 1,200 euros per month,

360
00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:30,680
including overtime!

361
00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:35,280
And then they started to cut the wage by 35 percent.

362
00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:39,480
These workers went to the trade union associations and asked

363
00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:43,400
how it is possible that this company takes away 35 percent

364
00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:51,920
in a warehouse that allegedly suffers from the crisis while I work overtime.

365
00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:57,960
So I work and produce, and they pull my leg.

366
00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:03,200
They say that there is the crisis, and that I have to give them 35 percent of my wage.

367
00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:08,320
Now they pay me 600 euros per month, 700 euros. What shall I do?

368
00:33:08,520 --> 00:33:10,600
The answer of the trade union associations:

369
00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:14,880
"Go and work, you are lucky you have a job."

370
00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:20,080
Then the workers said: Where the hell do we live?

371
00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:24,040
What kind of logic is that?

372
00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:31,760
And they started to look for support.

373
00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:35,720
And they saw that there was this movement...

374
00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:37,920
Still, Granarolo is a bit special.

375
00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:42,400
That is no well-known international logistics company.

376
00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:51,520
That is a dairy factory, with international reputation, active in China, Europe, Africa.

377
00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:55,120
It is a powerful company.

378
00:33:55,320 --> 00:34:07,360
ABut it has no connections to the well-known logistics companies.

379
00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:12,680
They had heard about the stuggle in the logistics sector, and went to register.

380
00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:17,520
The only thing the union told them was:

381
00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:22,120
"You have to self-organize, like the others have done before, and go on strike."

382
00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:25,240
And then they went on strike.

383
00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:31,000
One day after the strike began a letter arrived: "You are all dismissed!"

384
00:34:31,200 --> 00:34:36,120
51 workers were fired after their first strike.

385
00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:42,280
The company hired new workers.

386
00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:52,400
The old workers went to the labor inspectorate, to the carabinieri, the financial police

387
00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:57,640
and complained about their dismissal after one day of strike,

388
00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:03,200
the hiring of new workers who did black work,

389
00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:06,440
workers who had worked in other branches of the company.

390
00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:13,080
They had hired new workers to substitute those who had been sacked after the strike.

391
00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:15,600
No reaction!

392
00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:24,080
They didn't have to say more about this. We really had to blockade this warehouse.

393
00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:32,880
Workers from all other warehouses went there to support them.

394
00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:35,320
They went in front of the warehouse

395
00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:43,520
in order to prevent workers and commodities from going in and out.

396
00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:48,680
At this point the institutions and the prefecture intervened immediately:

397
00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:52,400
They came with many policemen and attacked the people with truncheons

398
00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:58,880
to clear the way for workers and commodities.

399
00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:04,440
They thought that the workers get scared and do not come back.

400
00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:08,520
But next day the workers came back for the blockade.

401
00:36:08,720 --> 00:36:12,840
And also the next day, for one month, two, three months...

402
00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:18,520
They tried threats, and we managed to get 380 police complaints.

403
00:36:18,720 --> 00:36:21,560
Only for this warehouse!

404
00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:35,280
They tried to use gas which is illegal in Bologna.

405
00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:40,040
They used it, they used truncheons, and many comrades were arrested.

406
00:36:40,240 --> 00:36:46,000
But despite this repression the struggle continued.

407
00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:50,280
We did not stop. Finally they intervened.

408
00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:52,720
Granarolo did not want to intervene!

409
00:36:52,920 --> 00:36:56,960
The LegaCoop, an association of cooperatives, intervened.

410
00:36:57,160 --> 00:37:00,600
They signed an agreement:

411
00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:11,160
The director of LegaCoop, the warehouse which had sacked the people,

412
00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:16,760
the trade union associations, the prefect himself, 

413
00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:19,160
all signed an agreement stating: 

414
00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:24,720
until October, 23 workers will be reinstated,

415
00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:35,760
and there will be further negotiations so the others get reinstated, too.

416
00:37:35,960 --> 00:37:43,160
This under the conditions that we stop all our activities.

417
00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:46,440
We did that. We calmed down and went home

418
00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:52,280
and waited for the agreement to be implemented.

419
00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:59,400
For us this was good. For the time the workers had got no money

420
00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:02,880
we had established a resistance fund.

421
00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:11,200
All warehouses and all comrades who acted in solidarty paid into a bank account,

422
00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:15,400
the so-called resistance fund.

423
00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:21,200
That was for support, so they could resist and live

424
00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:25,120
until the time of the agreement expired and they got reinstated.

425
00:38:26,040 --> 00:38:31,680
At the end of October nobody had been reinstated.

426
00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:44,040
The word of the prefect, the director of LegaCoop who is now minister for employment,

427
00:38:44,240 --> 00:38:46,480
the CTL and the trade union association:

428
00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:48,960
none of them kept their word.

429
00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:51,720
They thought that after some time

430
00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:54,680
the workers get tired and go home.

431
00:38:54,880 --> 00:39:01,280
But when the day the agreement expired we went back there!

432
00:39:01,480 --> 00:39:05,400
We came back for a week we called "week of passion".

433
00:39:05,600 --> 00:39:09,200
We came back with force, with all workers 

434
00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:13,840
and all who could go on strike, and we we blocked

435
00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:16,080
the Granarolo warehouse for a whole day.

436
00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:18,880
And we successfully blocked it!

437
00:39:19,080 --> 00:39:23,120
There was a serious attack in the night, after 9 hours of blockade.

438
00:39:23,320 --> 00:39:27,120
It was a serious attack because there were few of us.

439
00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:31,360
They pushed the picket away from the entrance.

440
00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:35,560
But next day we came back with twice as many people

441
00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:37,800
and called for a regional strike.

442
00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:42,480
There was another serious attack, and we called for a national strike.

443
00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:46,560
So people from all warehouses we have in Italy came to this warehouse

444
00:39:46,760 --> 00:39:48,800
for a blockade.

445
00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:51,720
At this point, the police just watched.

446
00:39:51,920 --> 00:40:00,280
Now they negotiate, because we attack not just Granarolo,

447
00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:04,880
we attack the minister for employment, too,

448
00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:09,160
who had also signed the contract and did not keep it.

449
00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:16,600
And now we attack the party and the whole government, and say:

450
00:40:16,800 --> 00:40:20,640
What kind of a government are you if you do not keep an agreement

451
00:40:20,840 --> 00:40:24,240
you made with 51 workers.

452
00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:26,440
If you don't have jobs for the 51 workers

453
00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:35,800
How do you want to find solutions for 2.5 million unemployed in Italy then?

454
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:38,280
That means your promises are false.

455
00:40:39,680 --> 00:40:43,000
And you are one of those who camp out in front of Granarolo?

456
00:40:43,200 --> 00:40:48,960
Yes, I work in a different warehouse called Artoni in Bologna.

457
00:40:49,160 --> 00:40:54,560
When this struggles started I said to the workers at Granarolo:

458
00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:59,720
"I'm a Granarolo worker. I don't work for Artoni anymore. Your suffering is my suffering.

459
00:40:59,920 --> 00:41:07,800
I share all your suffering." From that day on I was in front of Granarolo.

460
00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:15,480
I have not worked for 10 months, only on days without actions.

461
00:41:15,680 --> 00:41:20,200
We slept in the cars there, in a caravan.

462
00:41:20,320 --> 00:41:23,640
When it was warm we could lie down outside,

463
00:41:23,840 --> 00:41:25,680
but the camp was always under surveillance.

464
00:41:25,880 --> 00:41:29,480
We close it whenever we want, and open it whenever we want.

465
00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:33,360
They had expected that we give in after one or two months.

466
00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:36,080
However, we mobilized all our energy.

467
00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:39,040
I moved to Bologna.

468
00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:43,360
Now I am banned from staying in Bologna.

469
00:41:45,120 --> 00:41:47,480
The same in Piacenza.

470
00:41:47,680 --> 00:41:50,080
By moving to the places where it is "hottest"

471
00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:54,080
we potentiate our strength each time.

472
00:41:54,280 --> 00:42:03,360
We use buses in various cities for the strike pickets.

473
00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:11,400
They do not expect that we react with such determination.

474
00:42:11,680 --> 00:42:14,240
They would have never expected that.

475
00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:20,640
And now, after 9 months... He was not precise earlier:

476
00:42:20,840 --> 00:42:24,840
After we had accepted their agreement in July

477
00:42:25,040 --> 00:42:30,400
I wrote in the newspaper - and tell him again now -

478
00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:37,560
that we hadn't thought that they would take up our aims.

479
00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:48,520
But it was necessary to finish the pickets to get the "cassa integrazione" [redundancy pay].

480
00:42:48,720 --> 00:42:54,280
We accepted the agreement, knowing that they will never keep their promises.

481
00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:57,080
But we needed the redundancy payments.

482
00:42:57,280 --> 00:42:59,720
We were lacking 800 euros for each worker.

483
00:42:59,920 --> 00:43:05,640
51 persons on strike would otherwise have meant

484
00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:09,680
that we had to pay 50,000 euros each month out of the resistance fund.

485
00:43:09,880 --> 00:43:13,280
We were not strong enough to keep the resistance fund up.

486
00:43:13,480 --> 00:43:21,400
We made an agreement, and it was them who would not keep their promises.

487
00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:23,680
We did know that from the beginning

488
00:43:23,880 --> 00:43:25,880
but it was them who did not keep their promises.

489
00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:28,080
Meanwhile, we got money through the redundancy payments.

490
00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:34,520
So we never ended to struggle, but it was about having a short break.

491
00:43:34,720 --> 00:43:39,560
We took the financial relief in order to continue the struggle

492
00:43:39,760 --> 00:43:43,480
that we could only carry out because we had established the resistance fund.

493
00:43:43,680 --> 00:43:47,480
The money from redundancy payments came late, 

494
00:43:47,680 --> 00:43:50,680
but the workers and their families got it.

495
00:43:50,880 --> 00:43:55,080
You can only struggle if you have something to eat.

496
00:43:55,280 --> 00:43:59,280
If the troops have no supply of food during the battle 

497
00:43:59,560 --> 00:44:02,960
then they only shoot on the first day, but not on the second day anymore.

498
00:44:03,160 --> 00:44:07,080
Strategically, that was of fundamental importance.

499
00:44:07,280 --> 00:44:11,520
After 9 months we were faced with this situation.

500
00:44:11,720 --> 00:44:14,160
We have inflicted an incredible damage on them.

501
00:44:14,360 --> 00:44:18,240
We damaged their reputation. We hurt them on the international level.

502
00:44:18,440 --> 00:44:22,480
With press releases. Whereever they were, we also went there.

503
00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:26,680
They went to the stockmarket - we went in front of the stockmarket in Milano.

504
00:44:28,720 --> 00:44:32,200
We made public what went on at Granarolo.

505
00:44:32,400 --> 00:44:36,400
We started an Italy-wide boycott campaign against Granarolo.

506
00:44:36,600 --> 00:44:41,680
We went to the supermarkets and attached stickers.

507
00:44:41,880 --> 00:44:44,280
There was an exchange between all Social Centers.

508
00:44:44,480 --> 00:44:47,360
At IKEA, we even went to Sweden.

509
00:44:47,560 --> 00:44:49,560
That is our way of acting.

510
00:44:49,760 --> 00:44:54,920
Communication is a vital element for a sector like this.

511
00:44:55,120 --> 00:44:59,600
We did not do that ourselves because we are not capable of doing that, yet.

512
00:44:59,800 --> 00:45:04,400
It was the comrades from the Social Centers who collaborated with us

513
00:45:04,600 --> 00:45:08,600
and with whom we share direct solidarity in this struggle.

514
00:45:08,800 --> 00:45:11,200
That was a vital element.

515
00:45:11,400 --> 00:45:20,200
Another aspect that brought us advantages was

516
00:45:20,400 --> 00:45:25,960
that the president of the Association of Cooperatives became minister for employment!

517
00:45:26,160 --> 00:45:30,480
We started a campaign then: 

518
00:45:30,680 --> 00:45:34,680
If the minister for employment cannot solve a problem with 51 persons

519
00:45:34,880 --> 00:45:36,680
how could he solve one for 2.5 million [unemployed]?

520
00:45:36,880 --> 00:45:40,880
That was the music we played on the national level.

521
00:45:41,080 --> 00:45:46,240
That was a delicate issue for him: "Wait a moment. Let us find a solution."

522
00:45:46,640 --> 00:45:55,320
But the more we attack them, the more dangerous the signals we receive.

523
00:45:55,520 --> 00:45:58,000
Also from the perspective of illegality.

524
00:45:58,200 --> 00:46:01,080
The repression is carried out more by illegal mean

525
00:46:01,280 --> 00:46:04,080
and is not as much carried out directly by the police.

526
00:46:04,280 --> 00:46:08,520
The lawsuits start. struggles in the past are dug up.

527
00:46:08,720 --> 00:46:12,440
They try to punish this kind of strike.

528
00:46:12,640 --> 00:46:16,640
They don't punish the strike as such, because they want to be democratic on a formal level

529
00:46:16,840 --> 00:46:20,720
and say that the allow the strike as such

530
00:46:20,920 --> 00:46:22,360
but that it cannot be carried out in this way.

531
00:46:22,560 --> 00:46:28,560
They started to say that we cannot go on with these strikes.

532
00:46:28,760 --> 00:46:32,400
They came up with this "commission for state guarantees"

533
00:46:33,040 --> 00:46:38,040
according to which these strikes, like ours at Granarolo, is not permitted.

534
00:46:38,400 --> 00:46:46,200
Why? Because Granarolo is supplying hospitals and schools with milk

535
00:46:46,400 --> 00:46:50,240
and this was declared a very important fact.

536
00:46:50,440 --> 00:46:55,240
It is illegal to act against this since it is of highest national importance.

537
00:46:55,400 --> 00:47:00,200
There are fines of 20,000 or 30,000 euros for a strike in this sector,

538
00:47:00,400 --> 00:47:04,000
and the start to prosecute you for these things.

539
00:47:04,440 --> 00:47:09,440
Granarolo demands compensation of 4.5 million euros from us

540
00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:18,000
because due to us the company has economic problems.

541
00:47:18,880 --> 00:47:25,280
But it is clear that this is not true. We are currently negotiating an agreement.

542
00:47:25,480 --> 00:47:29,360
From the perspective of our struggle we forced Granarolo to its knees:

543
00:47:29,560 --> 00:47:34,560
We finish the conflict about the reinstatement of the 51 sacked workers.

544
00:47:35,240 --> 00:47:39,240
Granarolo would rather pay its way out, but we want the workers back in

545
00:47:39,440 --> 00:47:43,320
because it is politically important that they continue to work there.

546
00:47:43,520 --> 00:47:55,520
That has exemplary meaning for the whole sector and other proletarians

547
00:47:55,720 --> 00:48:01,960
and inflicts enormous economic damage on the companies.

548
00:48:02,160 --> 00:48:06,160
However, we cannot assume that this is the end.

549
00:48:06,360 --> 00:48:13,360
They intensify the attacks on the personal level.

550
00:48:13,640 --> 00:48:19,640
We have some militants whose cars were put on fire and the tires cut,

551
00:48:19,760 --> 00:48:23,080
who were attacked by the mafia and the camorra.

552
00:48:23,240 --> 00:48:28,040
Those are signalss, and when the mafia and the camorra give us such signals

553
00:48:28,240 --> 00:48:31,240
that means that they still tolerate us.

554
00:48:31,560 --> 00:48:33,560
If the mafia and camorra kill someone they do not send signals anymore.

555
00:48:34,240 --> 00:48:39,240
As long as they send these signals it means: "Go away, otherwise something will break."

556
00:48:39,600 --> 00:48:43,600
If you understand the message, good. If you don't understand it...

557
00:48:51,400 --> 00:48:54,400
Take the example of DHL in Italy:

558
00:48:54,640 --> 00:49:03,640
When this struggles began we had some problems.

559
00:49:03,840 --> 00:49:12,200
When workers blocked a DHL warehouse in Milano, DHL closed it

560
00:49:12,760 --> 00:49:17,760
and took the commodities to other warehouses, in Bologna, Naples, or elsewhere.

561
00:49:17,960 --> 00:49:23,960
They close the warehouse in Milano temporarily until the workers get bored and go home.

562
00:49:24,160 --> 00:49:29,200
But these workers did not wait until the gates were reopened

563
00:49:29,400 --> 00:49:32,360
but drove to the warehouses in other cities and distributed flyers there.

564
00:49:32,560 --> 00:49:39,560
They persuaded the DHL-workers in other cities to join the struggle.

565
00:49:39,760 --> 00:49:43,080
And immediately, in less than one month, there were banners everywhere

566
00:49:43,280 --> 00:49:46,280
and the whole camp was in struggle.

567
00:49:46,680 --> 00:49:50,360
We began to develop this strategy

568
00:49:50,520 --> 00:49:52,520
so that when the commodities where taken to Rome because of a strike in Milano 

569
00:50:01,800 --> 00:50:04,920
the workers in Rome also went on strike.

570
00:50:05,120 --> 00:50:13,120
Now the workers in one warehouse do not strike on their own.

571
00:50:13,320 --> 00:50:22,160
When something goes wrong in a warehouse in one city

572
00:50:22,400 --> 00:50:25,520
all DHL-warehouses in the whole of Italy close down.

573
00:50:25,600 --> 00:50:30,560
Therefore, DHL reacts immediately and pays these workers.

574
00:50:30,760 --> 00:50:32,920
If they attack on, they attack all.

575
00:50:33,120 --> 00:50:38,560
We did the same in various warehouses of TNT and GLS.

576
00:50:38,760 --> 00:50:45,880
If they try to sack anyone anywhere, the whole DHL pays for that

577
00:50:46,080 --> 00:50:48,120
because the people go on strike everywhere.

578
00:50:48,400 --> 00:50:54,600
They want to dump the crisis on us - now we let them pay a pile of money

579
00:50:54,800 --> 00:51:00,400
as soon as they try to steal a cent from us. 

580
00:51:00,600 --> 00:51:08,320
We have not only established unity within the DHL-warehouses and in the logistics sector,

581
00:51:08,520 --> 00:51:10,520
all branches stand up for all others.

582
00:51:10,720 --> 00:51:14,720
Whenever they attack some warehouse that belongs to us 

583
00:51:14,920 --> 00:51:21,920
they attack us all, and then we all go on strike and let them all pay for it.

584
00:51:22,120 --> 00:51:27,120
Because the main responsibility lies with the government and capital.

585
00:51:27,320 --> 00:51:31,320
We go straight to the highest level.

586
00:51:31,520 --> 00:51:36,520
We do not ask first who is responsible here.

587
00:51:36,720 --> 00:51:41,120
We close down all institutions and all warehouses and say:

588
00:51:41,320 --> 00:51:44,520
"You can think about who is responsible

589
00:51:44,720 --> 00:51:48,000
for the sacking of a worker in this or that warehouse."

590
00:51:57,200 --> 00:52:05,160
Previously the bosses and foremen of the cooperatives were arrogant.

591
00:52:07,360 --> 00:52:12,960
In some warehouses, like at TNT or STA, there were bosses 

592
00:52:13,160 --> 00:52:16,160
who went around with a stick in their hand.

593
00:52:16,360 --> 00:52:22,000
They treated the people like cattle.

594
00:52:22,200 --> 00:52:26,440
Who did not work well was beaten with the stick. 

595
00:52:26,710 --> 00:52:30,672
At STA in Bologna it was like that.

596
00:52:30,872 --> 00:52:39,120
We saw that and filmed it before the struggle began.

597
00:52:39,320 --> 00:52:45,040
At TNT it was the same. That is a breathtaking level of arrogancy.

598
00:52:45,240 --> 00:52:49,680
Not to mention the wages:

599
00:52:50,080 --> 00:52:54,600
The people work 16 hours per day and get 800, 900 euros.

600
00:52:54,720 --> 00:52:57,000
That is really appalling.

601
00:52:57,200 --> 00:53:03,560
When this struggle began we successfully fought for the compliance with

602
00:53:03,760 --> 00:53:09,760
with the national collective agreement, what is required by law. And not only that.

603
00:53:09,960 --> 00:53:16,280
While the work contracts in other branches are getting worse in the course of the crisis

604
00:53:16,480 --> 00:53:22,160
we have improved the conditions in the logistics sector

605
00:53:22,360 --> 00:53:28,160
and even reached improvements beyond the national collective agreement.

606
00:53:28,360 --> 00:53:33,200
That is a question of power and connections we have in the warehouses.

607
00:53:33,400 --> 00:53:37,600
Since when we have good connections in one warehouse, we can say:

608
00:53:37,800 --> 00:53:42,120
"We do not want this foreman or that person. We want wages twice as high.

609
00:53:42,320 --> 00:53:45,880
We want more holidays. We want this and that."

610
00:53:46,080 --> 00:53:48,000
That depends on who is stronger.

611
00:53:48,200 --> 00:53:53,800
If we are not that strong somewhere we are content with the national collective agreement.

612
00:53:54,000 --> 00:54:00,200
But that is the limit! In that way we make no mistakes in legal terms.

613
00:54:00,800 --> 00:54:06,400
We wait until management makes a mistake, and then we attack.

614
00:54:06,600 --> 00:54:09,400
With legal means and beyond that.

615
00:54:10,600 --> 00:54:14,680
The national standard in the logistics sector and the transportation of commodities stipulates

616
00:54:14,880 --> 00:54:20,880
that a company has to guarantee a full-time worker with an unlimited contract

617
00:54:21,080 --> 00:54:27,080
168 hours of work per month.

618
00:54:27,280 --> 00:54:31,760
In case of a crisis and less work

619
00:54:31,960 --> 00:54:37,960
it's the problem of the company not of the worker.

620
00:54:38,160 --> 00:54:46,160
The company has to keep paying the worker the wage for a minimum of 168 hours.

621
00:54:46,360 --> 00:54:52,600
But since nobody controls the wage slips of the cooperatives

622
00:54:52,800 --> 00:54:54,800
they treat the people in the following way:

623
00:54:55,520 --> 00:55:02,000
They call everyone  and let them wait outside the warehouse.

624
00:55:02,200 --> 00:55:06,280
Only if a truck with commodities comes and has to be unloaded they call them in:

625
00:55:06,480 --> 00:55:11,480
"NOw you can come in and unload!"

626
00:55:11,600 --> 00:55:14,880
Afterwards they send them outside again and the work is done.

627
00:55:15,080 --> 00:55:17,320
That means they set a limit for you.

628
00:55:17,600 --> 00:55:22,520
Some people wait outside the warehouse for 14 hours before getting work for 6 or 7 hours.

629
00:55:22,720 --> 00:55:27,720
At STA it was always like that. That's how they treat the people there!

630
00:55:27,920 --> 00:55:34,200
And in the time of crisis they have no chance to escape and work like that.

631
00:55:35,400 --> 00:55:39,400
But during this struggle we have chased away the foremen

632
00:55:39,600 --> 00:55:44,760
and won back the legal wages for the last 5 years.

633
00:55:44,960 --> 00:55:48,960
Mony they have stolen from us for 5 years.

634
00:55:49,160 --> 00:55:55,160
Now we work in dignity and with our heads up

635
00:55:55,360 --> 00:56:00,360
and with wages three times higher than before.

636
00:56:12,200 --> 00:56:18,320
In this struggles it was necessary to combine two aspects.

637
00:56:18,520 --> 00:56:22,000
On one hand, that we don't just focus on our own company

638
00:56:22,200 --> 00:56:25,240
as if it was an issue between you and your boss...

639
00:56:25,440 --> 00:56:28,440
If the development of capitalism changes from one moment to the other

640
00:56:28,640 --> 00:56:34,280
this has an immediate effect on the logistics sector. If there is growth then you get a share.

641
00:56:34,480 --> 00:56:35,520
Is there a crisis then they kick you out.

642
00:56:35,720 --> 00:56:39,960
So you life is closely connected to the development of capitalism.

643
00:56:40,160 --> 00:56:43,240
You do not only exist within on particular company

644
00:56:43,440 --> 00:56:48,040
because your fate is tightly connected with that of other proletarians.

645
00:56:48,240 --> 00:56:51,520
For us it is important to connect to struggles

646
00:56:51,720 --> 00:56:56,476
that workers have started here in Germany and France at Amazon

647
00:56:56,676 --> 00:56:58,676
which is also part of the logistics sector.

648
00:56:59,920 --> 00:57:05,200
We want to set up connections and try to organize general strikes

649
00:57:05,400 --> 00:57:10,400
that bring the whole sector to a halt, like in Italy. 

650
00:57:10,600 --> 00:57:15,600
If we manage to do that, it would be a European strike...

651
00:57:15,800 --> 00:57:22,080
At Amazon? – In the logistices sector and also at Amazon.

652
00:57:24,280 --> 00:57:35,840
In Italy, Amazon is organized in a way that makes it extremely difficult to get inside. 

653
00:57:36,040 --> 00:57:41,360
We have a few contacts inside these warehouses.

654
00:57:41,560 --> 00:57:55,560
But they are organized like military bases, and you cannot distribute leaflets in front.

655
00:57:55,760 --> 00:58:00,869
Amazon is one of the imporant places we want to enter.

656
00:58:03,080 --> 00:58:08,080
At the end of this international meeting of base unions 

657
00:58:08,280 --> 00:58:13,200
groups of different sectors where asked to come together

658
00:58:13,400 --> 00:58:15,400
each sector separately.

659
00:58:15,600 --> 00:58:20,600
From the logistics sector there were only people from Italy, so it was not really a meeting.

660
00:58:20,800 --> 00:58:23,960
So there was a meeting of all groups

661
00:58:24,160 --> 00:58:26,240
that represent one sector "alone".

662
00:58:26,440 --> 00:58:33,440
We came to a conclusion that we have not presented at the assembly

663
00:58:33,640 --> 00:58:38,840
but that we will publish in written form after the meeting:

664
00:58:39,760 --> 00:58:46,040
There is a law that denies the workers in a warehouse the right

665
00:58:46,640 --> 00:58:52,720
to go on strike in solidarity with another warehouse. 

666
00:58:52,920 --> 00:58:59,560
You are not allowed to strike in one sector in solidarity with another.

667
00:58:59,960 --> 00:59:03,960
The law stipulates that.

668
00:59:04,160 --> 00:59:09,560
However, we decided: the law is written by the bosses

669
00:59:09,760 --> 00:59:15,640
and we can change it when we start struggling.

670
00:59:15,840 --> 00:59:19,160
We decided to write a communiqué

671
00:59:19,360 --> 00:59:25,600
or do something else, like a national boycott-day against this law

672
00:59:25,800 --> 00:59:34,800
or a strike in the sectors where we have the power,

673
00:59:35,000 --> 00:59:38,000
in order to topple that law.

674
00:59:38,200 --> 00:59:44,480
Then we have all the possibilities to go on strike in solidarity with other sectors

675
00:59:44,680 --> 00:59:46,960
and to unite the sectors.

676
00:59:47,160 --> 00:59:50,720
Because capitalism is also united

677
00:59:50,920 --> 00:59:57,920
and rests on the division between the peoples, sectors, and national states.

678
00:59:58,120 --> 01:00:05,120
Capitals divides in order to reign.

679
01:00:05,320 --> 01:00:10,320
It is a first step to unite these units, these sectors

680
01:00:10,520 --> 01:00:15,200
and not to say anymore: "This sector has nothing to do with that one",

681
01:00:15,400 --> 01:00:17,400
or: "Italy has nothing to do with Germany."

682
01:00:17,600 --> 01:00:22,120
We have to break that and get rid of this law, as a first step.

683
01:00:22,320 --> 01:00:28,680
Whenever we have established this unity we can also do other things together.

684
01:00:28,880 --> 01:00:34,880
If there is an attack on logistics workers in Italy;

685
01:00:35,080 --> 01:00:40,080
for instance in a warehouse of DHL or TNT

686
01:00:40,280 --> 01:00:47,640
then those in Germany boycott that at Metro or another warehouse.

687
01:00:48,160 --> 01:00:57,240
Of if there is an attack in France, for instance, in the health sector

688
01:00:57,440 --> 01:01:02,840
then the logistics workers in Italy go in front of hospitals, boycott them

689
01:01:03,040 --> 01:01:06,280
and draw attention to the case

690
01:01:06,480 --> 01:01:11,000
in order to show that the sectors are not different,

691
01:01:11,200 --> 01:01:13,720
and that the workers are united and support each other.

692
01:01:13,920 --> 01:01:16,040
That way we can create connections between each other

693
01:01:16,240 --> 01:01:20,440
becaue we are all part of the same class - the working class.

694
01:01:20,640 --> 01:01:24,160
We are all workers who are fighting for more rights

695
01:01:24,360 --> 01:01:30,640
and we are against capital and against exploitation.

696
01:01:30,840 --> 01:01:33,840
And when we create unity between us in this way

697
01:01:34,040 --> 01:01:39,040
it can constitute a real power that changes the world.