We Want Everything

by Nanni Balestrini

  So it doesn’t make any sense for a clerk to be paid a full wage when he’s off sick while a worker loses part of his wage. It doesn’t make any sense for a clerk to get four weeks’ leave and a 40-hour week, while a worker gets three weeks and works 44 hours. It doesn’t make sense for some workers to be paid more and others less. Because of this, we Mirafiori workers won’t be satisfied with delegates or increases of a few lire; we say: The struggle continues. And our struggle is joined by the workers at Spa Centro, with a march of 1,000 workers in the sections, at Grandi Motori, at Spa Stura, and also at Lingotto.

  Monday 16 June: In workshop 54 at 5 o’clock the 124, 125, 125 Special lines are held up. Section heads, workshop heads and Fiat managers rush in and try to convince them to start work. Members of the internal commission also arrive and say that by Wednesday they’ll have an answer. This time, however, the workers’ reply is different and they say: While you talk, we’re going on strike. After the evening meal break the 850 line also joins in, completely stopping production in workshop 84. The bosses ask why there’s a strike and the workers reply: You know very well why. At this point the supervisors try to make the 850 workers finish 22 bodies that were still there, on the pretext that they would rust. The workers refuse, forcing the supervisors to get on the lines and finish the bodies.

  It looks like the workers from workshops 1 and 3 of the Medium and Large Presses and also workshop 85, vehicle transport, will go again tomorrow. At 6 o’clock these workers, who drive the finished cars from the lines to the transporters, will have an answer from the union. If the union responds negatively to their claim over categories and being considered drivers rather than handlers, tomorrow they’ll go on strike and push the vehicles instead of driving them. This could cause hold-ups in the line, because the yard would be flooded with vehicles within half an hour. The occupation of the Nichelino town hall also continues. In the past four weeks Fiat has lost tens of millions of lire in production and continues to lose more. Even in the last few days Mirafiori has produced only about fifty per cent of normal output in tons.

  Tuesday 17 June: The struggle at Mirafiori is at its highest and most stirring point. In light of the ongoing strike on the second shift that is blocking all production on the lines, Fiat played a new card. The bosses now understand that the workers don’t want anything to do with the unions. They have been forced to call directly on the striking workers to negotiate. After consultations with the unions, they ask the strikers to send delegates to the Unione Industriale.22 Because they are used to wheeling and dealing, they delude themselves that they can con the workers with a few words. They offer them 17 lire, not for everyone, but on different components of the wage. But the workers won’t let themselves be bought for small change.

  And so the lord bosses, so well mannered and elegant, let loose with some foul insults. You terroni, filthy southerners, up until yesterday you were scratching in the dirt, and today you dare to raise your heads. The workers answered these insults right back in kind but what’s more, once they were back in the factory, gave the kind of reply that counts for more, intensifying the struggle. A march of thousands of workers filled every corner of the factory, including the women’s sections. To the cry of: Out, out, they stopped what little work was still going on. They stopped the 125 Special line and the 500 line again. Fiat is on its knees. In this uncomfortable position they play one last card. The twelve workers who had gone to the Unione Industriali were called up alone, without the unions, who are just about out of the game, to the office of Marciano, the deputy director of Mirafiori.

  This guy invites them to convince their striking comrades to return to work because, let it be understood, very grave steps could be taken. If you haven’t decided by this evening, he says, everything here will blow up, and if it goes on like this we will be forced to suspend people. If you suspend even one striking worker, the twelve reply, the whole factory will intensify the struggle. Fiat isn’t prepared to negotiate on this basis, Marciano says, playing hard. And we’re not prepared to work. And that is how, in fact, it goes. The second shift on the lines leaves the factory at eleven o’clock in the evening without having touched a single vehicle. At the gates it was so tense it seemed Torino was about to explode. Not a single union official was to be seen.

  Wednesday 18 June: At six in the morning the workers on the first shift at workshop 54 returning to the factory learn what had happened the day before, about the great struggle their comrades in the second shift had continued and even widened. Yesterday the strike stuttered along, they say, today we’ll hit like an avalanche. And that’s how it goes. From one assembly line, the 124, only a single vehicle exits, from another, three or four cars. The 500 lines, after going along at a reduced rate themselves, stop completely. Both shifts are now on strike, all the lines stopped. At 1.30pm the workers from the first shift leave the factory with fists raised. And they are greeted with the same salute by the workers of the second shift who are re-entering the factory and who started the strike at Mirafiori.

  The workers from the second shift continue the strike, solid. Fiat tries to make them work by running the lines empty. But after a short time it becomes clear even to the bosses that the workers are making fun of this move and the lines stop. A march starts from workshop 54 and disrupts workshops 52, 53, 55, 56. Not a single vehicle leaves the lines all afternoon. With the strike on the assembly lines completely under the workers’ control, the march heads towards the management building. They meet the union delegates there, who try to deny everything that they have said against the strike in the past few days. They are no longer heard. The march moves towards the gates, where it blocks the truck exit. And finally it re-enters the lines, where a number of workers step up to speak to the meetings that are gathering all around.

  Thursday 19 June: Comrade workers of Rivalta, yesterday in workshop 72 the workers suspended work for an hour. The request for uniforms was only a pretext, the reality is that the workers were protesting against exploitation and the brutish conditions inside and outside the factory. Inside because the bosses continue to up the work rates, making the work more and more unbearable. With work rates that make you spit blood without even time to eat or go to the can. Outside because the starvation wages are no longer enough to pay higher and higher rents and don’t allow workers even the bare essentials of life. So workers are forced to live eight to a room or sleep on benches at the station. That’s it, Fiat’s workers are starved of money and want to work less.

  Rivalta is at the most advanced point of technological development, the model of automation, the boss’s jewel. All the special vehicle assembly lines have been transferred here. The 128 and the 130, the latest Fiat models, are built here. Today Fiat uses Rivalta to make up the increasingly bad losses caused by the struggle at Mirafiori, at least in part. They try to squeeze the workers, asking for production increases every day, pushing to the limit of the workers’ resistance. The 128 line produces four extra vehicles a day. But workshop 72 signalled the beginning of the struggle. The bosses tried to pre-empt it, generously conceding some categories because they are scared that the struggle at Mirafiori will become the struggle at all of Fiat. And we know that all of Fiat in the struggle means beating the boss with objectives chosen and organised by the workers, workshop by workshop.

  Friday 20 June: Comrade workers, for the fourth day the second shift in the body workshop has held up all production. The workers’ marches have blocked every attempt to restart work. The first shift has also continued the struggle. On Wednesday only 30 vehicles came off out of more than 400 in normal production before the struggle. Production was drastically reduced yesterday as well. But this is not enough. The workers on the first shift must be as strong as their comrades on the second shift. Every variation in the consistency with which the struggle develops allows the bosses and their thugs to turn us against one another. To destroy every danger at its source there is only one response, unity in the struggle.

  All output mu
st be blocked. In the past month we have discovered that we have extraordinary strength. Only one workshop has to stop to hold up the whole factory. The organisation is growing and connecting up all the workshops, allowing the full use of this formidable weapon. This means that if the task of carrying the struggle forward today belongs to workshop 54, painting and polishing, other workshops must be ready to relieve them and must do so as soon as possible without waiting for the struggle in 54 to burn out. Today many workers intend to support the comrades of workshop 54, who are carrying the whole weight of the struggle, with donations. It’s right but it is not enough. We must prepare ourselves to take our place in the struggle in all the workshops. We must meet with the workers of workshop 54 right away and coordinate the strikes. In this way the struggle will never be stopped again.

  Today the union officials, who can’t move freely outside the gates, have the boss’s permission to hand out leaflets in the factory and spread false rumours. Here’s what the union wants to say in the factory. Yesterday they told us that they had won 12 lire. But we have demanded: 50 lire on the base wage for everyone, advancement through the categories for everyone, breaks for everyone, without making up production.

  Workshop 85 continues the struggle. Yesterday the Rivalta workers went into action and stopped the 128 line. Our action has been joined for two days by electronic control and data systems technicians. It is a powerful movement. That’s what scares the radio and the newspapers, from La Stampa, which is silent or says little, to L’Unita, which spreads lies. To connect with each other, keep ourselves informed, discuss and direct the development of the struggle, meeting of all workers on Saturday 21 June at 4pm at Palazzo Nuovo in the University.

  Saturday 21 June: At Mirafiori, as well as workshops 54, 85, 13 in the struggle, workshops 25 and 33 are also starting. Stop works at Rivalta. There have also been stoppages at Lingotto that point to a much wider struggle. At Spa Stura workshops 29 and 25 staged stop works for two hours all week. At Mirafiori workers from the other lines must substitute for those from 54 who were taking up the fight. Wherever claims have been made, there is no need to accept the bosses’ constant stalling but to go right out on strike. In the Mechanical workshops many are saying it is not a good time to fight because Fiat has built up big stocks. But the strike would damage production at Rivalta and Lingotto.

  Monday 23 June: Workers of 85, for a week we of 85 have been fighting in the way that we believe is best for us and most harmful to Agnelli with very precise claims: second category for everyone, the same as the comrades of 54. The lines have gone back to work for now but we will carry on with our claim for second category for everyone. As long as the lines are not held up they ignore our claims. Now they have extended the offer from six to seventy categories. They are trying to divide us in this as well by buying some of us off with promises. Let it be clear that we do not intend to negotiate our claim. Yesterday they even tried to make seconded hands work; they’re nothing but scabs, and we responded accordingly. At South we ran them off. At North we completely stopped work, jamming up the lines from 9pm until 11pm. We should all remember: la lotta continua. It’s either second category for everyone or we’ll fill the piazzas.

  Tuesday 24 June: Workshop 25 is completely at a standstill, all three shifts on strike for eight hours. Our warning to the managers: Pressuring us to unload the ovens is useless, reminding us of the value of the parts in the ovens is useless. It’s your fault if you had them loaded because you knew the workers on the first shift intended to strike. But you didn’t believe in our strength and so the strike has taken you by surprise. If you want to keep the Foundry working and want to avoid losses now you have to pay. The threatening letters you gave the workers on the first shift are a provocation that doesn’t scare anyone. Workers of 25: now we have the upper hand. Our strike has direct consequences for all Fiat production. Yesterday after just eight hours of strikes the Mechanical workshop was already in trouble. Now they will start to run short of parts for Rivalta, Spa Stura and Autobianchi in Milano. We will continue the struggle.

  Wednesday 25 June: Today at Mirafiori, preparations in 52 and 53 to stop all production, taking over from 54. Strike on both shifts. A march stops all production. We saw the team leaders get to work: the record belongs to team leader Bruno of 52, who made 13 bodies singlehandedly. Line 25 continues the strike solidly with 8 hours per shift. In section 42 of workshop 4, Foundry, 4 hours’ strike. Autolimitation continues in workshop 16. Stop work in workshop 51. Stop works at Lingotto, at Materferro and at Carmagnola. The struggle has exploded at Rivalta. On the first shift, internal strike for two hours in workshop 64. Stop work in 72, 128 spray painting. Stop work in 75 and 76, 128 line. On the second shift, internal strike from quarter to nine until knock-off in workshop 64, three teams. One hour stop work on two lines of the 128 modification and of half-an-hour for three turns of the 128 assembly in workshop 72. The situation has exploded and the bosses can no longer control it.

  Thursday 26: Five weeks of strikes by only a few workshops at a time have cost Fiat more than 30,000 vehicles with a value of around 40 billion. Production has been more than halved. There’s a shortage of parts for many models. Exports are held up. Because of this the management and the unions have reached a global agreement covering 60,000 workers. The agreement concedes differentiated increases, from 5 to 84 lire, on various components of the base wage. But how many will get 5 lire and how many 84 lire? The workers demand a 100 lire increase for everybody. The agreement maintains the distinction between categories, and in fact adds a new one, the super third. But the workers demand second category for everybody as the first step in doing away with categories. Differences in wages and categories are just a tool in management’s hands for dividing workers. The struggle continues because the workers’ demands have not been met.

  Workshop 85: the strike continues for 8 hours. Workshops 52 and 53 body preparation: 8-hour strike with an internal march, first and second shift. All lines stopped due to shortage of parts. 700 assembled vehicles without engine blocks will have to be disassembled and put back on the line. Workshop 4, Foundries: 4-hour strike. Workshop 13: autolimitation of production continues. Workshop 26, Mechanical section: 2-hour stop work on the engine assembly line due to shortage of parts caused by the strike in workshop 25. Workshop 25: strike for 8 hours on three shifts with pickets around the finished units in case the management attempts to steal them. Lingotto: stop work for 15 minutes in workshop 10. The workers at Rivalta say no to the piss-weak agreement for 17 lire. On the first shift the workers blockade three lines: 124, 500, 850 for an hour, without the supervisors or the internal commission being able to stop them. On the second shift all of workshop 64 stops for 4 hours, the 128 line for just one hour. Stop work at Spa Stura, Grandi Motori, Carmagnola. Many supplying factories have now also stopped.

  Friday 27 June: Workers of workshops 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 41: Fiat has summarily dismissed 12 of our comrades from workshop 25 who were conducting an autonomous struggle for wage increases of 50 lire for everyone and for the second category. Fiat dismissed these workers to smash 25’s struggle, which had paralysed the whole Mechanical section, and to demonstrate that it is dangerous to fight without the union. The workers of 25 reject this shameful blackmail and respond by continuing the struggle. They add the immediate withdrawal of these dismissals to the claims already presented, as a priority. Furthermore, the workers of 25 ask their comrades in 23, 24, 26, 28, 41 to respond immediately to the provocative action of Fiat with stop works, meetings in the canteen, written requests to the management to withdraw the dismissals, marches to the gates of 25, collections to support the struggle and the dismissed comrades.

  Saturday 28 June: Production halted at Mirafiori. At Rivalta many sections have stopped due to the strike in workshop 25 at Mirafiori and 64 at Rivalta itself. The strike at Carmagnola continues. At Lingotto the stop works occur with greater and greater intensity. The struggle spreads beyond Torino. To Fiat Modena. News arrives via fl
yers inserted in the engine packing cases by workers in Torino. To Fiat in Pisa. To Fiat in Naples. To Fiat in Florence. To Fiat in Trieste. To Piaggio at Pontedera. Everywhere in the same form and with the same aims. The Fiat strike also affects all the supplier firms. The conflict becomes tougher and tougher. The workers’ organisation grows stronger and stronger. The bosses reply with a piss-weak agreement that is refused. They reply with dismissals, without the unions lifting a finger: two more dismissals at Aluminium, Carmagnola. They respond with intimidation: orders from the management to the heads to hand out warnings and suspensions to enable dismissals with just cause.

  Agnelli resorts to gangsterism. Last evening a gang of hired thugs beat the shit out of comrade Emilio outside gate 5 at Rivalta where he was handing out leaflets. Five of them beat him savagely and rolled him into the middle of the street, trying to throw him under the passing cars. But discontent and the will to fight to the end against the bosses grows among all the workers of Torino. To try to recover this impetus to fight, the unions call a general action on Thursday 3 July to withhold rents. Saturday afternoon 28 June at 4.30 general assembly at Palazzo Nuovo, University, corner of Via Sant’Ottavio and Corso San Maurizio, beneath the Mole in Piazza Vittorio.