The strike for Gaza was a blow for the CGIL

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The official proclamation of the general strike on Monday, September 22, was signed by Daniela Mencarelli, Cinzia Della Porta, and Guido Lutrario. These three unionists are members of the governing bodies of the USB (Unione Sindacati di Base), but are unknown to both the general public and industry insiders. They lit the political fuse that sparked large and colorful street demonstrations, which took place in major cities and provincial capitals, but were also called in smaller towns like Darfo Boario Terme, Scicli, and Sorrento. In total, between 70 and 80 localities were involved in the national day of strike action. Founded in 2010, the USB is a small organization within the Cobas network, but over time it has gained local roots (it has 80 local branches), especially in the service sectors such as logistics, transportation, education, and public employment.

They have gradually welcomed union leaders from the CGIL (Italian General Confederation of Labour), boast a seat on the CNEL (National Council of Labour), and have made national headlines for the workers' struggle at GKN in Florence against the dismantling of the plant. Yesterday, in truth, no significant number of workers or factory banners were reported at the various marches. The segment of blue-collar workers closest to the grassroots unions, and also most involved in the boycott of goods and weapons bound for Israel, are the dockworkers, especially in Genoa and Livorno. But beyond a meticulous organizational survey, it's worth noting that in the working-class suburbs, various small unions more or less similar to Cobas have managed to gain ground, as in the case of Prato, where they organize Pakistani workers fighting against both Chinese and Italian employers.

It's clear that the multitude of souls who sparked the demonstrations yesterday cannot be reduced to a hard core of seasoned union leaders, who write on their website that suddenly "history has started to run." In its call for a general strike, the USB clearly encountered a pro-Gaza political and social demand, conveyed more by the mainstream media, both television and print, than by the leaflets of grassroots organizations. It's no coincidence that in their articles Monday morning, even the major newspapers spoke of a national strike "called by the unions," making no distinction between Cobas and confederal organizations. The misunderstandings in the call for the strike don't detract from what happened, but they do help us understand the climate favorable to the "let's block everything" sentiment within which the USB's success matured.

Seen from the CGIL's perspective, however, this feat is a resounding defeat, and in Bologna the march even passed in front of the Chamber of Labor. The confederation, led by Maurizio Landini, had opted to call a strike on Friday, September 19th, generating considerable confusion over which sectors were involved and how the strike was to be held. The demonstrations called as a default for the strike were held, but the turnout was nowhere near as high as yesterday's 70 demonstrations. In short, the social coalition Landini has often evoked was present in yesterday's strike, but it was the USB that brought it to the streets, and in resounding fashion. This left the CGIL stranded. The network Landini has expertly woven over the years includes third-sector organizations such as Arci, Acli, and Libera, but it seems more like a gathering of officers than ordinary soldiers. A cerebral project that, when it collides with reality, reveals itself to be a sort of prefabricated structure tailored to a particular leadership and designed to undermine union unity rather than point the way forward. The result, however, is that the CGIL, on the one hand, loses its historical characteristics based on bargaining and representativeness, and on the other, fails to gain new consensus.

In recent weeks, Landini has achieved something of a media miracle: he's made the general public forget about organizing the failed labor referendums. And he's continued to give guru-like interviews as if nothing had happened. This time, however, the blow has come from an unexpected front, and it will be interesting to see how he reacts. And since there's no end to the worst, it's possible that the USB's success, instead of prompting the CGIL to reflect on the unity of confederal unionism, will lead it to further co-basicize. Let's hope not. Meanwhile, on their website, commenting on yesterday's strike, the organizers wrote that "the toothpaste has come out of the tube and it will be impossible to get it back in." They can't possibly know that this is a phrase former CISL leader Sergio D'Antoni used to use in his rallies in the 1990s.

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