(Fwd) European strikes against war (fwd)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 22:16:30 +0000
From: Steve Rosenthal <smrose@mailhub.exis.net>
To: PROGRESSIVE SOCIOLOGISTS NETWORK <psn@csf.colorado.edu>
Subject: (Fwd) European strikes against war

I just read the message reporting widespread opposition to the NATO 
war in Greece.  The report below describes large scale and growing 
opposition to the war among workers and students in Italy as well.  
The US media certainly aren't reporting anything about this.

Steve Rosenthal

------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Subject:       European strikes against war

First strike against the war in Italy
http://www.marxist.com/Europe/italystrike.html

On 3rd April 100,000 people marched in a demonstration in Rome against 
the NATO bombing campaign in Yugoslavia. A week later another 
demonstration of over 50,000 took place. There is a lot of opposition to 
the NATO bombing among the workers and youth in Italy in spite of the 
government's support.

There was a demonstration about 3,000 strong at the Aviano air base in 
Northern Italy. This is one of the bases the NATO warplanes are using. 
The demonstration was brutally attacked by the police who waded into the 
demonstrators with truncheons and fired tear-gas cannisters. There is 
widespread opposition to the bombing among the students, but even more 
important have been the developments in the labour movement.

On Thursday, 22nd April, over 600 shop stewards gathered in the Milan 
CGIL trade union headquarters to take part in a national assembly called 
by forty factory councils. The meeting called on the national leadership 
of the three main trade union federations (CGIL,CISL and UIL) to organise 
a general strike against the war. They also decided to organise a series 
of mass meetings in the factories on the question.

What happened in the town of Massa, in Tuscany, is an indication of how 
the movement could develop. The official unions, CGIL, CISL and UIL, 
organised a four hour provincial general strike on 19th April. This was 
the first serious strike action called by the trade unions against the 
war. The national leadership seems less prepared to organise a serious 
movement, but the pressure could build up, especially if ground troops 
are sent in.

The number of people on the demonstartion was 5,000. A large number of 
school teachers were there with a banner that had had some lines from a 
Bertold Brecht poem: "Among the vanquished the poor people went hungry, 
among the victors the poor people went hungry." Prior to the 
demonstration teachers and students had organised meetings in the schools 
on the war.

Apart from the teachers there were also blue collar workers from the 
factories, government workers, the pensioners union, the railway workers 
and the workers from the marble quarries of Carrara. Significantly, there 
was also a delegation on the demonstration from the SIULP (the police 
trade union!).

All this took place despite attempts on the part of the PDS (Party of the 
Democratic Left, one of the two parties that emerged from the split in 
the old Communist Party back in 1991) leaders to convince workers not to 
take part in the strike. As the provincial secretary of the CISL pointed 
out, "In taking this decision [to call the strike] I believe that the 
trade union movement has remained faithful to its traditions."

The PDS led government is using all its energies to convince the workers 
and youth of Italy that the bombing is for a just cause, but as the 
bombing intensifies, and especially if ground troops are sent in, 
opposition will grow.

The strike in Massa may just be the beginning.

Fernando D'Alessandro
April 23rd,1999

Article from Socialist Appeal
socappeal@easynet.co.uk
http://www.marxist.com
http://www.socialist.net

Read the other material about the crisis in the former Yugoslavia:
http://www.marxist.com/balkans.html

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See also:

-Spanish Students Strike against NATO
http://www.marxist.com/Europe/spanishSE.html

A report of the national day of action called by the Spanish Students 
Union (Sindicato de Estudiantes) against NATO bombing of Yugoslavia on 
April 20th.