A-Infos (en) Italy, FdCA, IL CANTIERE #37 - Fewer hours, more pay - Cristiano Valente (ca, de, it, pt, tr) [machine translation]

When one abandons, even temporarily, the mother of all political and 
union battles—the battle over wages and the reduction of daily working 
hours—by proposing and encouraging parliamentary political shortcuts, or 
even worse, by colluding with government coalitions, defeat is assured. 
---- In these early autumn notes, we are referring to the two major 
trade unions, the CGIL and the CISL, which, once again, confirming their 
enormous distance from the concept of political autonomy from the 
various government coalitions and from the parliamentary " game ," even 
if formally claimed in the more or less formal declarations of their 
leadership groups, can only lead to a further and even more disastrous 
defeat for the workers' movement.

Regarding the new direction of the CISL, we have repeatedly highlighted 
its now collateral support to the government forces, clearly rewarded by 
the entry of the former general secretary Luigi Sbarra, as 
undersecretary of the Presidency of the Council and further strengthened 
by the combined provisions of the recent approval of the popular 
initiative law proposed by the CISL, " Participation in Work", on the 
participation of worker representatives in the Boards of Directors, in 
harmony with Article 46 of the Constitution, not coincidentally called 
by the government " Provisions for worker participation in the 
management, capital and profits of companies" and the last congress last 
July, where the new secretary, Daniela Fumarola, in the presence of the 
government leader Giorgia Meloni herself, highlighted the " new" 
strategy of her organization, already explained at the CISL Lombardy 
congress with these exact words: " We are pleased that Prime Minister 
Meloni and the president of Confindustria Orsini have opened up to this 
prospect. We are ready. There is no need for a head-on confrontation. It 
takes courage combined with participation.....This must be done." be the 
season of dialogue, comparison and participation, a journey that has 
reached its goal with the approval and entry into force of our law on 
participation which must now become an opportunity for economic and 
cultural growth in every single company, in every single territory, 
through a new, inclusive model of industrial relations which strengthens 
consultation, co-responsibility and dialogue" (1)

We believe it is unnecessary to add further to highlight the CISL 
leadership's staunch commitment to a fully fledged " yellow union" 
strategy, in the classic sense of the term. This refers to unions of 
convenience, created and supported by employers and which, while 
presenting themselves as workers' representatives, actually act in 
accordance with the employer's interests, often to the detriment of 
workers' rights.

Another reflection regarding the CGIL.

This is a union that still presents itself, but above all, conceives 
itself as a progressive and left-wing force due to its more than one 
hundred-year history. The need for conflict with employers still 
manifests itself, in part, as a necessary practice in the social arena. 
However, the increasingly obscured practice of concertation, defined and 
approved by its leadership since the last century, continues to impede 
the relentless battle for the emancipation of the working masses and 
their natural allies, youth and women. It is enough to recall, albeit 
briefly, the total capitulation of the leadership and its general 
secretary, Bruno Trentin, over the 1992 Escalator (Escala Mobile) wage 
bill with the socialist Amato government, and the subsequent 1993 
inter-confederal agreement with the government of former Bank of Italy 
governor Carlo Azeglio Ciampi on the policy of concertation. Its last 
National General Assembly, therefore its highest governing body, held 
last July, by failing to even minimally criticize the CISL's new 
direction, but instead highlighting yet another fruitless 
inter-confederal meeting—the CGIL, CISL, and UIL with Confindustria—as a 
positive outcome, once again postponed a necessary self-criticism 
regarding the referendum defeat. It outlined a supposed union strategy 
for the upcoming season, which includes participation in the 
Perugia-Assisi March for Peace and Fraternity on October 12th and the 
usual, now hackneyed, autumn demonstration against the upcoming budget. 
It did so without even establishing a concrete program for wage and 
regulatory action, nor defining a generalized battle for the reduction 
of working hours. It also failed to identify any clearly acquisitive 
objective with respect to the worsening social conditions of the working 
masses and the younger generations. The indication is a generic shopping 
list indicating as primary objectives (and what else should a union do? 
Editor's note) such as: " income (wages, renewal of the National 
Collective Labour Agreements, pensions); fiscal justice; social status 
and people's rights (education, healthcare, non-self-sufficiency, 
housing, social security, demographic policies); industrial policies, 
infrastructure, PNRR, investments, contracts, health and safety, fight 
against precariousness; Southern Italy." (2) without proposing a battle 
and a clear and unifying objective for all workers, the only useful and 
necessary path for a recovery and a recovery of union representation in 
the workplace in order to modify the current balance of power.But, in 
our opinion, the greatest error, typical of reformism as well as 
political maximalism, lies in the ruling groups' belief that advancing 
the social conditions of the working masses ultimately requires 
parliamentary political representation, which inevitably reduces and 
extinguishes social conflict, projecting the strength of the working 
class onto parliamentary or institutional grounds, rather than onto 
class-based ones, as was the case with the referendums. The ruling group 
doesn't seem to understand, in a sort of amnesia that inevitably becomes 
complicit with the various government and employer groups, that the 
greatest victories of the organized labor movement occurred when the 
greatest progressive and left-wing force, the Italian Communist Party, 
the largest communist party in the West, was outside government circles.

From the Workers' Statute of the 1970s, to the unique point of the 
Escalator (Sliding Scale), reached in 1975 under Agnelli as head of 
Confindustria (the Italian employers' federation), as well as the 
Basaglia Law, Law 180 of 1978, the first and only framework law that 
mandated the closure of mental hospitals and regulated compulsory 
medical treatment, establishing mental health services, moving on to Law 
392 of July 1978 on fair rent, which aimed to guarantee fair rent 
proportionate to tenants' income, up to Law 883 of December 1978 on the 
National Health System, which abolished the system of various mutual 
funds and mutualistic organizations that, in addition to the diversity 
of services provided by different production and work sectors, left 
large segments of the population uncovered. Leaving aside the distant 
so-called national unity governments of 1976 and 1979 under the 
Andreotti government, which, despite not featuring ministers from the 
then PCI (which would deviate from the meaning of these notes), the PDS, 
heir to the former PCI, entered the government fully with its own men 
and ministers in 1993, in the government of the aforementioned former 
governor Ciampi. It is therefore entirely responsible for that period 
and the subsequent workers' defeats, which still fuel the sense of 
distrust and alienation of the working masses and the younger 
generations from union and thus political militancy. This analytical 
bias, on the part of the CGIL leadership and even many middle managers, 
is highly detrimental to the fate of the exploited working masses.

This desire to surrogate the need for a " party" by effectively 
abdicating the true and real meaning of the class and trade union 
struggle, also advocated by regional leadership levels, as in the case 
of the clear voting direction by the Tuscan regional secretariat in 
favor of the center-left candidate Giani for the upcoming regional 
elections, is substantially echoed also in the final document of the 
National General Assembly, where a suspension of the assemblies for the 
next national congress is even envisaged on the occasion of possible 
national political elections, citing as the reason that " on the 
occasion (of which the elections) our organization will have to make its 
independent contribution to involving and encouraging workers, 
pensioners, young people and young people to participate as widely as 
possible in democracy." Thus, in addition to failing to engage in any 
self-critical reflection regarding the referendum strategy and the 
further stinging defeat it suffered, we continue to fail to sufficiently 
reflect on how and why the majority of abstentions in recent referendums 
were precisely workers aged 40 to 60, that is, the most " stable and 
secure" workers . In the last general election, 30 to 40% of CGIL 
members voted for the government lists, with a particular preference for 
Giorgio Meloni's Brothers of Italy. While we are not particularly fond 
of parliamentary logic and claim our political abstentionism, it is 
clear even to a child that any political affiliation with left-wing or 
so-called progressive groups depends on and is contingent on the real 
conditions experienced by the working class and the new workforce. If, 
for about two generations, exploitation has been on the rise in the 
workplace, and wage and hourly conditions, as well as legal ones, are 
tragically negative, leading to constant conditions of blackmail and 
precariousness, solidarity cannot be the dominant aspect of society, nor 
participation in public political and cultural debate. Instead, a sense 
of distrust and detachment will prevail, fueling abstentionism on the 
one hand, or rewarding, from time to time, " the Lord's anointed." on 
duty, be it the mafia real estate developer, wheeler-dealer, and 
womanizer Berlusconi, the millionaire comedian Beppe Grillo, the 
people's lawyer Conte, the technocrat Draghi, or even the post-fascist 
Giorgia Meloni, in the hope of safeguarding the strictly corporate 
interests of their respective classes, a typical option of the middle 
classes, from freelancers to shopkeepers to small-time bosses, in a " 
every man for himself" logic that is the philosophy and maxim of all 
right-wing parties and all conservatives, self-described, more or less, 
as sovereignists or nationalists, all intent on making capitalist 
development optimal, fluid, and perpetual. Schizophrenia, in its lexical 
meaning of splitting or fragmentation of the mind, becomes even more 
evident when our progressives are exalted by the victory in the 
primaries for mayor of New York City of the Democratic candidate, the 
33-year-old " socialist" and Muslim    Zohran Mamdani. A landslide 
victory, of over 12 percentage points (56% of voters against 44% of the 
former governor Andrew Cuomo) which has aroused lively interest and 
support from many world economists of the calibre of James K. Galbraith, 
Professor of Economics, University of Texas at Austin or Yanis 
Varoufakis, former finance minister of Greece in the first Tsipras 
government. (3)

Mamdani's platform prevailed is a classic, if not reformist, platform. 
Beyond the concrete possibility of implementation in a single American 
metropolis, it focuses on the basic needs of the working masses, such as 
the right to housing, with the provision of a rent freeze for over 2 
million tenants and a long-term commitment to building at least 200,000 
additional rent-stabilized public housing units. Expanding and making 
most of New York City's bus lines free, increasing bus ridership by over 
30%, providing significant economic relief to low-income New Yorkers, 
and significantly reducing violence against drivers. Free and universal 
childcare, as exorbitant childcare prices exclude parents, especially 
women, from the workforce, stifling productivity and pushing families 
out of the city. This would create additional, high-quality jobs in the 
care economy, which would generate a multiplier effect that would 
benefit the entire city. Finally, to counter the soaring food prices 
that the new Trumpian policy is fueling and driving, Mamdani proposes 
municipal supermarkets; a "public option" that could leverage economies 
of scale to provide healthy food at affordable prices. These municipal 
supermarkets would sell basic necessities at wholesale prices, 
leveraging public purchasing power and economies of scale. They would 
eliminate food deserts and offer New Yorkers immediate relief from price 
gouging.

As you can see, there's nothing particularly revolutionary, much less 
anti-capitalist, but what's clear is that to gain the trust of the 
proletarian masses, policies and objectives must be direct, clear, 
precise, and functional. Immediately improved material conditions.

Only in this way can participation and activism be restored. Regardless 
of those who babble, particularly among so-called progressive and trade 
union sectors, about the " complexity" of the contemporary world, or 
even sectors of the supposedly radical and so-called antagonistic left, 
about the " new paradigm" of social conflict and the novelties of the 
ongoing social conflict, once again it is the usual and notorious 
material conditions and, above all, the objectives and proposals 
outlined for real improvement in the social condition of the exploited 
masses—essentially, the balance of power between the fundamental 
classes, bourgeoisie and proletariat—that determine whether or not 
participation and generate political consensus. A broad and radical, 
general and unitary conflict must be constructed, precisely identifying 
the objectives to be pursued and demanded.

Set a long-term battle on comprehensive objectives

such as a new sliding wage scale and a tenacious battle for the 
reduction of daily working hours.

the historic battle for the reduction of daily working hours must be 
resumed and relaunched at an international level

After the South Korean government's opening to a 64-hour week (4), the 
battle over working hours is becoming even more bitter and necessary on 
a global level for workers' resistance organisations, also due to the 
new US employers' front, which, in the most technologically developed 
sectors, is trying to turn back the clock to the beginning of the last 
century, requiring a daily commitment of 12 hours for a total of 72 
hours per week. The reference is the Chinese 996 model (5) which is 
increasingly establishing itself as the normal condition of the working 
conditions required of the new workforce.

In China, after years of growing worker protests, the Chinese government 
has formally begun cracking down on this practice, although it is still 
widespread and common practice, even in high-tech sectors. Adrian 
Kinnersley, an American entrepreneur who runs several companies, 
especially in the field of artificial intelligence, was surprised by the 
number of startups that are going all-in on 996. To compete with rivals 
and with China, American companies are adopting this practice. " It's 
becoming more and more common ," he says . "We have several clients for 
whom 996 availability is a prerequisite for selecting candidates even 
before the interview ." (6) Rilla, an AI startup that helps freelancers 
negotiate higher rates, says nearly all of its 80 employees adhere to 
the 996 schedule. "There's a very strong and growing subculture of 
people, especially my generation, Generation Z, (the current workforce 
born between the early 1990s and the early 21st century) who grew up 
hearing the stories of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, entrepreneurs who 
dedicated their lives to building revolutionary companies," explains 
Will Gao, the company's chief growth officer . "Kobe Bryant (the famous 
American basketball player who died in 2020) dedicated every minute he 
had to basketball, and I don't think many people would argue that he 
shouldn't have worked that hard ." (7)    Rilla lists its job ads as:

He clearly states that employees are required to work more than 70 hours 
a week, advising those who are not "enthusiastic" about the schedule not 
to even apply. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are offered in the office 
every day, including Saturdays. Then there are the employers who propose 
996 as an option for the most devoted employees, creating a two-tiered 
structure in which only some are required to work extra hours. “ 
California is the epicenter of AI, where much of the 996 culture comes 
from, despite having the most employee-friendly labor law in the United 
States,” Kinnersley states (8) . This is the reality of the class 
struggle in the metropolises of US imperialism and in non-marginal 
sectors of the capitalist economic and financial structure. It is 
therefore necessary to clear the ground of false myths and chauvinistic 
policies, which have the result of tying the fate of the working classes 
to the needs of national employers. The demand for greater 
competitiveness and increased productivity, often present in union 
platforms, has no other outlet than worsening working conditions for 
workers, as is clearly evident from the demands of American employers, 
justified by the competition and defeat of other imperialist competing 
economies, China first and foremost . Here is how, in a recent interview 
with IL FOGLIO on July 28, the head of Confindustria, Orsini, addresses, 
from his perspective, the necessary strategy for competitiveness of our 
products on the global market: " We need to make a leap and compete with 
the United States with facts... redirect the funds not spent on the NRRP 
to investments. A second priority is to create the conditions to provide 
incentives to small, less productive businesses to pursue mergers... an 
immediate acceleration in free trade agreements with Mercosur, ASEAN, 
Australia, South Korea, and Taiwan." But even more evident and clear is 
the management strategy that the Governor of the Bank of Italy, Fabio 
Panetta, indicates in his Concluding Considerations of the annual report 
for 2024, presented on May 30, 2025.

Faced with a demand for wage increases, even from some employers, the 
Governor is blunt: " The central problem remains productivity. The 
increases achieved so far are encouraging, but they are not enough to 
support the country's development. The low level of wages reflects this 
weakness."

za: since the beginning of the century, in line with stagnant 
productivity, real wages have grown much less than in other major 
European countries”.

The greater dynamism of the American economy is identified with the 
ability of that " entrepreneurial fabric to continually renew itself 
thanks to new companies capable of establishing themselves in the most 
dynamic markets." The reference, though not explicit, is precisely that 
practice of 1996, that is, the ever-necessary increased productivity to 
compete and establish oneself in new markets, which means a return to 
proto-capitalist conditions in working conditions: a 72-hour workweek. 
There is no other way within the capitalist economic system.

A third condition is not given. Either through greater productivity and 
greater competitiveness, we succeed in winning on the global market, to 
the detriment of other workers in other economies and nations—but this 
means a continued deterioration of working conditions and increased 
exploitation of the workforce—or we embark on a battle for better 
working conditions aimed at the liberation of all working people. Anyone 
who wishes to remain faithful to this historical perspective, however 
confusedly, requires a profound and clear self-criticism of the 
political and trade union strategies proposed to date. Otherwise, 
whether consciously or unconsciously, we are responsible and inevitably 
complicit.

Note:

cisl.it/notizie/primo-piano-For further reflections and analyses on the 
Cisl see CANTIERE n° 18 June 2023, n° 25 April 2024, n° 35 May 2025

Final document of the CGIL National General Assembly of 24 July 2025

https://progressive.international/wire/2025-06-19-economists-unite-in-support-of-zohran-mamdanis-plan-for-new-york-city/en

CONSTRUCTION SITE No. 35, May 2025. “If eight hours seem too few to you”

CONSTRUCTION SITE No. 25 April 2024. “For a May Day of struggle and 
resistance”

https://www.wired.it/article/orario-lavoro-996-startup-silicon-valley-72-ore-settimanali/

Idem

Idem

https://alternativalibertaria.fdca.it/
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