Italy

Italy: Trade Unions Continue Mobilizations Against Labor Policies

May 16, 2023 People's Dispatch. Resist! Inflation, Italy, Ukraine, Unions, Wars and Militarism

Mainstream trade unions in Italy, including the Italian General Confederation of Labor (CGIL), the Italian Confederation of Workers’ Trade Unions (CISL), and the Italian Labor Union (UIL), organized a major demonstration in Milan on Saturday, May 13. The unions denounced the economic policies of the right-wing government led by Giorgia Meloni, including proposed cuts to public services and social welfare programs, along with lack of investment in job creation. Cadres from various political groups including the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC) also participated and expressed solidarity with workers.

Why Is The Co-Operative Movement So Successful In Emilia Romagna?

May 16, 2023 Matt Hancock, Low Impact. Create! Cooperatives, Italy, Solidarity Economy, Worker Ownership

In a region of 5 million people, there are 4000 co-operative businesses, that employ 250,000 people – just under a quarter of the entire workforce. The co-op movement in ER goes back to the mid 19th century, with roots in the workers’ mutual aid societies, and many of the early ones are still strong today. It wasn’t a reaction to capitalism. The co-op movement developed alongside capitalism. There’s an entrepreneurial spirit, but also a propensity to do things together – creating associations, unions, co-ops, credit unions etc. There’s joint purchasing and lobbying, collective bargaining etc. There’s a sense that ‘we have to solve problems together’ rather than as individuals.

Italy’s Eni Faces Lawsuit Alleging Early Knowledge Of Climate Change

May 11, 2023 Stella Levantesi, DeSmog. Resist! climate crisis, Climate Justice, Italy, Legal System, Oil and Gas

Italian oil major Eni is facing the country’s first climate lawsuit, with environmental groups alleging the company used “greenwashing” to push for more fossil fuels despite knowing of the risks posed by burning its products since 1970. Greenpeace Italy and Italian advocacy group ReCommon aim to build on a similar case targeting Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell in the Netherlands to force Eni to slash its carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2030. While Eni is among the world’s largest oil companies, the company’s role in climate change has so far undergone scant scrutiny.

Workers Who Have Occupied An Italian Factory Are Close To Owning It

April 30, 2023 Conor Gallagher, Naked Capitalism. Resist! Italy, Occupation, Worker Ownership, Worker Rights

The longest-ever factory in Italian history is taking place in Florence where the 300 workers are now making progress at turning it into a worker-owned non-profit that would pay the employees and produce products that would benefit the community. Should the workers succeed, it could provide an inspiration for others. For three years workers at the former automotive parts factory, GKN Florence, were in limbo. According to Investigative Reporting Project Italy, in 2018 GKN was purchased by the British hedge fund Melrose, which went about enacting its motto of “buy, improve, sell.”

Exploring Italian Social Cooperatives

April 11, 2023 Trebor Scholz, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Create! Cooperatives, Italy, New Economy, Solidarity

Last week’s seminar with guest speaker Professor Vera Zamagni explored the various forms of value generated by Italian social cooperatives. Zamagni, an expert in economic history, particularly in the field of Italian social cooperatives, outlined the history and current prevalence of cooperatives in Italy, which are active in multiple sectors, including retail, distribution, agriculture/-food, housing, credit, and the production of goods and services. She noted that cooperatives were strengthened in Italy following World War II as a result of a provision in the country’s Constitution that mandates assistance for cooperatives and small to medium-sized businesses.

US Invites Authoritarian Far-Right Regimes To ‘Summit For Democracy’

April 2, 2023 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. Educate! Biden administration, India, Israel, Italy, Pakistan, Poland, Right wing politics, Russia, Summit for Democracy, Ukraine, US Imperialism

The US government organized a conference of its allies which it misleadingly called a “Summit for Democracy”, but which actually featured numerous anti-democratic, far-right regimes. The State Department invited 120 global leaders to participate in the summit on March 29 and 30. They did so virtually, via video calls. Several of the heads of state who spoke represent governments that even Western officials, corporate media outlets, and mainstream human rights organizations have admitted are authoritarian, including Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Andrzej Duda of Poland, and Narendra Modi of India.

A Pipeline Brings Gas And Revolt To Southern Italy

February 11, 2023 Alessandra Bergamin, In These Times. Resist! climate crisis, Italy, Oil and Gas, Pipelines

Puglia, Italy - The mole arrived after dark — an almost 20-yard, 75-ton machine sent to bore a tunnel beneath the Adriatic Sea and into southern Italy. The tunnel would house the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), a multinational fossil fuel project critics say would threaten Salento’s turquoise coast, upend local farms, and enrich a corporation at the expense of the local population. The following evening, dozens of locals gathered in the streets to defend their territory against the pipeline’s incursion, and for the second time in two years, a rural swath of southern Italy’s Salento region was declared a “red zone” in early 2019. Riot police in blue helmets, shields and batons at the ready, closed coastal highways and country roads, stood guard at major intersections, and restricted movement for the sake of a pipeline that no one seemed to want. “Mafioso! Merda!” the protesters yelled, cursing at the officers. “What you are doing is dirty and you know it!”

Italian Police Bust Azov-Tied Nazi Cell Planning Terror Attacks

November 17, 2022 Alexander Rubinstein, The Grayzone. Educate! Azov Battalion, Italy, Neo-Nazis, Terrorism, Ukraine

Italian police announced a series of raids against the neo-Nazi Order of Hagal organization. Accused of stockpiling weapons and planning terror attacks, the group has established operational ties to the Ukrainian Azov Battalion. Five members of an Italian neo-Nazi organization known as the “Order of Hagal” were arrested on November 15th while an additional member remains wanted by authorities. He happened to be in Ukraine, fighting Russian forces alongside the Azov Battalion, which has been formally integrated into the Ukrainian military. The “Hagal” members are accused of plotting terrorist attacks on civilian and police targets. A sixth member of the Hagal group, now considered a fugitive, is in Ukraine and embedded with the Azov Battalion, a neo-Nazi paramilitary group that has been incorporated into the Ukrainian National Guard.

Professor Resigns Over Partnership With Oil And Gas

November 1, 2022 Stella Levantesi, DeSmog. Resist! Higher Education, Italy, Oil and Gas, Workers Rights and Jobs

An Italian social scientist and professor, Marco Grasso, has resigned from his post as director of a research unit at Università degli Studi Milano-Bicocca (UNIMIB) in Milan, Italy, over the academic institution’s partnership with oil and gas major Eni, DeSmog can exclusively report. In February this year, UNIMIB and Eni signed a five-year “Joint Research Agreement,” (JRA) in which the university and the fossil fuel company pledged to collaborate on “research projects of common interest” related to the energy transition, according to an Eni press release. In a video promoting the partnership, the company’s CEO Claudio DeScalzi said it would be “crucial for the [energy] transition but also the transformation of Eni.”

Italians Protest US-Led NATO Membership As Energy Crisis Spirals

October 18, 2022 Press TV. Resist! Energy, Italy, Media, NATO, Russia, Ukraine, Wars and Militarism

The massive demonstration, organized by the USB (Unione Sindacale di Base) union, saw people burning energy bills in protest against skyrocketing costs of living, which are taking a huge toll on ordinary people in the southern European country. The demonstrators called on the government in Rome to leave the NATO military alliance and demanded an end to the Russian war in Ukraine, now in its eighth month. The simmering war in Ukraine has resulted in a severe energy crisis across the continent, fueling strong anti-NATO sentiments among people. Italy has been rocked by several such anti-government and anti-NATO demonstrations in recent months. In June, a demonstration was held in the center of the Italian capital for the withdrawal of Italy from NATO, against the supply of weapons to Ukraine and the spread of misinformation about Russia and the Ukrainian war.

‘Gas Is Green… Washing’: Greenpeace Disrupts Industry Conference In Milan

September 6, 2022 Julia Conley, Common Dreams. Resist! climate crisis, Direct Action, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Italy, Oil and Gas

AAttendees at the opening ceremony of Gastech, the world's largest meeting of gas companies, in Milan on Monday were greeted by what Greenpeace campaigners called "climate hell"—a display of "toxic" fumes and the sounds of sirens that the organization said represented "the fate we face if we continue to burn fossil fuels." Greenpeace Italy led the direct action including more than 50 campaigners from across Europe, confronting officials there to promote gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and hydrogen as "greener" alternatives to oil and coal. Gastech and other efforts to push natural gas as a more sustainable energy source than other fossil fuels amount to "greenwashing," said the organizers, who also displayed a hot air balloon at the meeting emblazoned with the words: "Gas is Green...washing. End fossil fuels now."

Anti-US And Anti-NATO Protests In Verona, Italy

May 9, 2022 Andrei Coman, National Newspaper. Resist! Italy, NATO, Ukraine, US Imperialism

Verona, Italy - "NATO send the Ukrainian people to the massacre. Vasal governments also obey, "the supporters of the protest chanted. "NATO send the Ukrainian people to the massacre. Vasal governments also obey," the supporters of the protest chanted. At the level of reasons for going out into the street in such a protest gesture, the organizers explained: “I haven't taken a clear position on it for weeks the war in Ukraine. First I researched, then I listened to direct sources. And we realized that the official narrative, as for Covid, is totally insecure." In this context, the organizers of the march argued that “this war is organized, desired and maintained by Western forces, led by NATO.

Italian Students Are Rising Up Against Exploitation

April 3, 2022 Andreas Petrossiants And Giulia Sbaffi, ROAR Magazine. Organize! Italy, Structural Violence, Student organizing, Students

On January 21, 18-year-old Italian high school student Lorenzo Parelli died after being hit by a heavy metal beam while working at a factory in Lauzacco, a small town in northern Italy. The accident happened on the last day of Lorenzo’s alternanza scuola-lavoro (“school-work alternation”) internship as part of a mandatory work-placement program for high school students. In an attempt to individualize the responsibility for this tragedy, investigators are now wasting time and resources to determine who is to blame for Lorenzo’s death. Meanwhile, they are letting the neoliberal capitalist death machine that legitimized a program that forces young students into dangerous factory work off the hook. However, for the students who have been organizing throughout the country since his death, the real culprit of this tragedy is clear: “Lorenzo did not die. He was killed by the state through the alternanza scuola-lavoro,” as Niccolò De Luca, a member of the recently formed student movement La Lupa (“The Wolf”) put it.

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