A-Infos (en) Italy, FAI, Umanita Nova #32-25 - General Strike of November 28. Prospects and Problems (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

This text acknowledges that the preparation for the November 28 strike 
is a work in progress and that in many ways the situation could change. 
However, we will be monitoring it closely. The starting point is that 
this is not a classic strike called by the entirety or part of the 
grassroots union movement, but rather an initiative that takes place 
within a context that is in many ways new and presents possibilities 
that remain to be explored. Indeed, we have behind us the October 3 
strike, which saw grassroots unions and the CGIL jointly in calling and 
taking to the streets, and, before that, the strike in support of the 
population of Gaza on September 22, called by CUB, USB, and other unions.

One new development-not the only or main one, but one that should be 
kept in mind-in what happened between September and October is the 
dialectic between grassroots unions and the CGIL. In September, in fact, 
the CGIL had chosen to go it alone, calling a strike on the 19th. Due to 
strike legislation, this was limited to private sector workers. This 
resulted in internal tensions and led to an extraordinary and unexpected 
mobilization on September 22nd. Having acknowledged the situation, the 
CGIL itself agreed to a joint strike on October 3rd, called, in the face 
of the Global Sumud Flotilla blockade, by CUB and USB, and by the Cobas 
Confederation, which had joined in the meantime-an objective 
innovation.[The October 3rd strike was also called by C.I.B. Unicobas - 
editor's note]

Obviously, the writer, by the sad privilege of age, is not characterized 
by excessive surprise and enthusiasm at the CGIL's leftward shifts. This 
is explained, as has happened in the past, by the fact that, faced with 
a right-wing government, the CGIL and CISL take opposing positions, with 
the CGIL hardening its stance while the CISL bows out, while the UIL 
oscillates between the two.

Time will tell whether this shift is contingent or structural; for now, 
this is a fact from which to proceed.

But the real news is the extraordinary success of the mobilization, with 
hundreds of thousands of people in the streets, a complex and 
interesting universe: sectors of workers who, in sectors such as 
education, but not only, have gone on strike in large numbers, students, 
and citizens. Furthermore, the sympathy surrounding the mobilization was 
evident, a sympathy driven by the awareness that Gaza was witnessing a 
massacre of civilians, many of them children. This is without forgetting 
the fact that the October 3rd strike significantly forced the issue of 
anti-strike legislation for the first time in years, a political step 
whose significance should not be underestimated.

In this regard, it is worth reading the article "For a Future of the 
Pro-Palestine Movement" by Sergio Fontegher Bologna, a scholar of the 
labor movement, in "Il Manifesto" of October 20, 2025. The energy 
accumulated in the demonstrations for Palestine must translate into a 
rethinking of power relations in capitalist countries, and particularly 
in Meloni's Italy. Let this be our greatest concern. To achieve better 
living and working conditions for young people trapped in the gig 
economy, for freelancers, for precarious workers in education and 
healthcare, for industrial workers, for slaves in tomato picking or 
logistics. Because this, and nothing else, means changing power 
relations... If even the President of the Republic has finally decided 
to say a word on the wage issue, it means that someone in high places 
has understood that the social situation in Italy has reached a critical 
point. And if the energies of liberation and revolt unleashed in the 
demonstrations for Palestine were to take the right path, things could 
change. Seriously. Furthermore, there is another consideration to make. 
The situation in Gaza is complex; the drive to support the Palestinian 
cause could fragment and divide. The worst of the worst could happen: 
that of all this accumulated energy, only remnants remain. focused on 
physical opposition. While its great strength was that it was a 
peaceful, mass movement. For a movement to be mass, it must be peaceful, 
despite its intransigence. This way, it can rely on power relations and 
not be reduced to mere testimony."

These notes, in my opinion, capture the problem and the challenge we 
face, which we will begin to test with the next strike: "And if the 
energies of liberation and revolt unleashed in the demonstrations for 
Palestine were to take the right path, things could change. Seriously."

Let's get to the present: as I'm writing this article, news arrives that 
the CGIL intends to call a strike on December 12th. It doesn't take a 
tremendous amount of political intelligence to understand that they 
don't intend to accept a date already proposed, and that the October 3rd 
waltz isn't necessarily going to be repeated.

Evidently, important sectors of the CGIL apparatus don't consider a 
coalition with grassroots unionism useful, also because the climate, 
enthusiasm, and mobilization that existed at the beginning of October 
don't seem to hold up today, and many apparatniks evidently believe that 
business as usual can be restored. On the other hand, the CGIL's 
"unitary" approach was more suited to presenting itself as democratic, 
pluralistic, and, indeed, "unitary with the movement at its peak," 
rather than to strengthening relations with trade unions that were 
inevitably perceived as competitors and with which day-to-day relations 
were not always peaceful.

Let's examine the situation: currently, according to the website of the 
Commission for the Guarantee of the Right to Strike, the November 28 
strike has been called or joined by ADL Cobas, CLAP, Confederazione 
Cobas, CUB, Sbm, Sgb, Si Cobas, SIAL Cobas, USB, and USI 1912.[On 
November 7, 2025, the strike was also called by Unicobas and on November 
9, 2025 by USI CIT - editor's note.]

On November 5, the Cobas Scuola unions published an appeal to seek an 
agreement on the date between the grassroots unions and the CGIL and to 
withdraw both calls in favor of a new, joint strike. This appeal, I say 
without underestimating the merits, is consistent with their historical 
positions based on the tireless pursuit of a relationship with the CGIL.

In reality, this proposal is not easy to implement, and the Cobas seems 
more focused on gaining the role of "unifier." There are also widely 
shared appeals circulating, but they point to clear difficulties among 
CGIL and grassroots union members for a unified solution and, 
specifically, for sticking to the 28th. In any case, in the coming days, 
the situation regarding the strike date and the back-and-forth between 
grassroots unions and CGIL will receive some clarification. However, it 
is now worth focusing on the strike platform based on the original 
documents.

I'm using, but it's not the only one in circulation, excerpts from a CUB 
document from October 23rd, which, in my opinion, has the merit of being 
concise...

"GENERAL STRIKE OF NOVEMBER 28TH: MOBILIZATION IN THE SERVICE OF WORKERS 
AND MOVEMENTS

There are many reasons for another GENERAL STRIKE, continuing the 
mobilizations of recent weeks and the proclamations of September 22nd 
and October 3rd. FOR PALESTINE AND THE PALESTINIANS

As the "International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People" on 
November 29th approaches, a date on which numerous demonstrations will 
be held throughout Europe, everyone now knows that there is no peace 
agreement in Palestine, only a truce, ignored by Israel, which continues 
to massacre Palestinian civilians... As if that weren't enough, Israel, 
with Trump's endorsement, pursuing the unacceptable design of Greater 
Israel, has resumed bombing in Lebanon.

AGAINST THE WAR AND THE WAR ECONOMY

The winds of war are blowing ever stronger, not only in the Middle East 
but also in Europe, well beyond the borders of Ukraine and around the 
world... The war economy is making the material conditions of the masses 
and workers in Italy extremely critical, struggling with cuts to welfare 
and public services.

FOR WORKERS' WAGES AND RIGHTS, HEALTHCARE, EDUCATION, AND TRANSPORT

The 2026 Budget Law does not provide any serious measures to concretely 
increase workers' wages in Italy, while the retirement age is being 
raised and the lowest pensions remain stuck in poverty. The rising cost 
of living is a scourge plaguing the economy of millions of people in 
Italy, now grappling with a steady slide into deep poverty. Meanwhile, 
while Meloni & Co. plan to spend up to 5% of GDP on military spending 
(EUR22 billion over three years!), nothing is being done. To ensure an 
adequate and efficient public and universal health service, the desired 
redevelopment of schools and universities is not being planned, nor is a 
plan for a concrete restructuring of the public transport service being 
launched, such as to improve mobility in large cities and connections to 
and from Italy.

Nothing even regarding intervention to safeguard workplace safety, while 
the drip-feed of workplace deaths and accidents continues unabated.

FOR THE REVIVAL OF A PUBLIC HOUSING PLAN

The lack of a public housing plan is now a scourge that not even the 
Meloni government wants to resolve, while high rents are becoming a 
problem unparalleled in Italy's recent history.

AGAINST THE EXPLOITATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT THAT HYPOTHECATES THE FUTURE

Not to mention the lack of real interventions for an environmental 
protection and remediation project capable of guaranteeing adequate 
livability for future generations in cities and beyond.

It is important to emphasize that the CUB has called a general strike 
for November 28, 2025, identifying a date on which all categories of 
workers, including those in essential services, can abstain from work, 
avoiding the liberticidal intervention of the Guarantee Commission. The 
CUB confirms its willingness to make the proclamation available to other 
trade unions. And to evaluate any rescheduling that we will collectively 
decide on."

It is now clear that there is continuity between the next strike and 
those of September 22nd and October 3rd regarding the mobilization 
regarding what is happening in Gaza and, at the same time, an 
accentuation of the importance given to the internal front and the 
conflict between capital and labor. This is precisely the key point that 
we will have to verify on the ground.

Without underestimating the positive mobilizations of students and civil 
society, it is precisely on the relevance and radicality of the workers' 
mobilization that the game is played.

Cosimo Scarinzi

https://umanitanova.org/sciopero-generale-del-28-novembre-prospettive-e-problemi/
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