CHAPTER 29
THE POLITICAL ORGANISATIONS WORKING
AROUND FIAT
[A] Lotta Continua
There are about 12-13 main FIAT plants in
Lotta Continua is present in most of these factories (excluding
Spa-Centro: they were present here, but with an old, skilled working class they
found it hard to develop the sort of demands that were developing elsewhere in
FIAT). They are organised in such a way that they can ensure that external
militants are always available every day to go down to the gates, leafletting or discussing with workers. To give an idea of
the amount of work that they do: for one shift at Mirafiori, leafletting on as many as 12 separate gates, they require
12-15,000 leaflets. They have been doing this, leafletting
for at least 4 days in every week, for the past 5 years. Accounts for the world
paper shortage!
Most Lotta Continua members are inside the Mirafiori
plant, because it’s there that LC started, and it has proved to be the most
important plant to organise around. They have at present about 45 members in
Mirafiori, mostly in the Body Plant and Press Shop (Carozzerie
and Presse). They are weaker in the Engine/Mechanical
parts sections (Meccanicche), where there is a
different organisation of work, and where workers tend to be more skilled and
individualistic. They also have 20-25 members in Rivalta.
Lotta Continua has an office/shop-front at both Mirafiori and Rivalta, as well as 10 other branch
offices around
In addition, the Lotta Continua Workers’ Commission
meets every week in the central
At the Lotta Continua Workers’ Conference in May this
year (1974), they assessed the class composition of their membership. 75% of
the Lotta Continua militants at Mirafiori are shop stewards (delegati). The
vast majority (95%) are members of the FIOM [FIOM is the CP/Socialist Party part
of the FLM Federation of Metalmechanical Workers, which is made up of FIOM
(Communist/Socialist); FIM (Christian Democrat/Catholic Leftist) and UILM (some
Socialists, Republicans and Social Democrats – not so important).
The FIAT Lotta Continua members are mostly in the 20-30
year age range. Usually married (which is a difference with
the early days in 1969). Almost all males.
Lotta Continua, in the 5 years since the Hot Autumn of 1969, has had about 250
members sacked from the factories – mostly Mirafiori and Rivalta. Of the
political sackings at FIAT, more than 60% were Lotta Continua members. Franco Platania was one among many, framed with a couple of
sparkplugs planted in his bag as he was going out of the gates.
In more than 10 cases, Lotta Continua has fought these
sackings in the lawcourts, and proved them to be
illegal. FIAT loses the case, but rather than reemploy the worker, they prefer
to pay them to stay at home. In this way there are Lotta Continua comrades who
are paid by FIAT for doing nothing, and they can spend their time on political
work. This has been going on since 1970.
_______________
[INSERT PICTURE]
_______________
[B] The
The engineering unions in
The unions also have their officials (operatori esterni). Some of these
are workers who have been sacked. Others are pulled out of the factory by the union,
to become organisers. Others have never worked in a factory. They are paid
200,000 lire per month (?) They participate in the Consiglio
di Fabbrica, whose
membership is divided equally between the 3 main unions. They often end up
running the Consiglio di Fabbrica. They are the bureaucrats of the situation.
The union in
The lega is a strong
base of decisionmaking. The Mirafiori lega is a place for political discussions. For a
long time there were attempts to get Lotta Continua kicked off the lega and to exclude Lotta Continua shop stewards
from the Shop Stewards Committee. In the end Lotta Continua won. External
militants are allowed to attend meetings at the Mirafiori lega,
and even if you’ve been sacked out of FIAT, you still maintain the right to
speak in the lega. The Union has approached LC
comrades and offered them organisers’ jobs, organising the Union, in other
parts of
Other Union Structures
[1] There is a general meeting of the Consiglio di Fabbrica
once a month. There are never more than 350 out of the 829 shop stewards
present. They usually meet outside the factory, sometimes on University
premises, sometimes in a church hall. Here the leadership and the Union
officials give the official line. There is general discussion, and in theory
this meeting can take decisions. Many times, though, they take a vote (eg for an 8-hour strike) and go along to print leaflets at
the lega, and the lega
refuses to print them.
[2] The National Coordination of FIAT Shop Stewards.
This is not open to all shop stewards. Usually open to shop stewards nominated
from the Executives? All officials also attend. And only 2 delegates from each
section of a given factory can attend (eg Body Plant,
Press Shop etc). This is a dead structure, made up of officials and
right-wingers. It meets to decide on platforms of demands and to make decisions
about national FIAT issues.
[3] The Engineering Union in Turin (FLM) is based on a
central place – the Camera
For a general strike, the Consign di
Fabbrica of each of the different factories (and
other work places) meet. They decide their individual
positions – FIAT, Pirelli, Michelin, hospitals, etc – and then go along to tell
the Camera del Lavoro, where another meeting is held, and the final position is
thrashed out. On occasion the Camera del Lavoro also has mass meetings of shop
stewards in the Turin Sports Stadium, to decide policy for general strikes.
_______________
[INSERT PICTURE]
_______________
[C] The CUB
The CUB are the Base
Committees (Comitati Unitari
di Base). They are the main organisation at Mirafiori
apart from Lotta Continua and the union. They are a revolutionary organisation,
and function as a wing of the Trotskyist group Avangüardia Operaia (Workers’ Vanguard) who have links with the British IS. This is the usual Trotskyist split between the political party and the rank
and file group. (Unlike Lotta Continua which operates as a political party
inside the factory). AO is the second largest revolutionary organisation in
The CUBs have a different
organisation structure from LC. They are only a factory organisation. Members
of CUB are not necessarily members of a political organisation. They may be sympathisers. The CUB deal with factory issues, while Avanguardia Operaia, as the party, puts out separate
leaflets dealing with more general political issues. They attract the left wing
trade unionists who are not very happy with the Union
line.
The CUBs are a rank and file
organisation. There are CUBS in Mirafiori, Rivalta and Lingotto. Also in other industries and factories. AO is building CUBs among students, factory workers, communities, hospitals – many different sectors. The political line for
the CUBs comes from AO.
The majority of workers organised in the CUBs come from the FLM Union. Some are also Union leaders
in the FLM, whereas LC at Mirafiori and the rest of FIAT is generally within
the FIOM. There is a general meeting of CUB members once a week. They have no
branch offices near the factory.
[D] The Manifesto Group
Manifesto is a group that split from the left of the
Communist Party a few years ago. They are absent from the factory – having 3
members inside. They don’t sell their paper at the gates, but they do a
(general) leaflet once every 10 days or so. They have formed links with the
PDUP (ex-PSIUP) – Democratic Proletarian Unity Party – which does not exist as
an organisation of workers at FIAT, but which does have a lot of TU officials.
Many TU officials in
[E] The Communist Party
The CP has 250 members at Mirafiori. This is very low
compared with other factories. In 1969 the whole Mirafiori CP branch had only
45 members. This was partly the result of the purges and sackings in the 1950s.
But also, until 1969-70, the CP largely ignored FIAT as a place to organise,
since they didn’t want to organise unskilled line workers. They have more
members in the Mechanical Parts plant, where the work is more skilled, and
fewer in the Assembly plant. The CP shop stewards act in a very disciplined and
united manner. They are capable of pushing a very hard line in the Factory
Council. However, the CP presence in FIAT is not monolithic. There is a lot of
internal tension, especially with the CP members who are lineworkers,
against the Party leadership.
In general the CP is weaker in the motor industry.
However, in the Pirelli factory they have apparently 1,000 members, and the
situation at Pirelli is similar.
[Possibly 1974]
[Ends]
_______________________________________
Extracted from: THE BOOK OF FIAT: Insurrection,
insubordination, occupation and revolutionary politics at the FIAT motor
company – 1907-1982
Published:
Red Notes / May Day Rooms
First
published in 2020