The assault began almost at the same time that the parliaments began in the Piazza San Giovanni in Rome, but a week earlier. On that day, a group of militants from the neo-fascist Forza Nuova party took down the demonstration against the mandatory vaccination certificate and went directly to the headquarters of the Italian General Confederation of Labor (CGIL), the main Italian union. Dozens of them broke the windows and entered the building destroying everything in their path. The idea was to reproduce the assault on the United States Congress. But it was left in a vandalism led by former fascist terrorists and criminals. 12 people were arrested and remain in jail. A week later, the union has responded in the street with all the democratic force of its militancy.
The motto of the demonstration, which was attended by some 100,000 people, according to the organizers, was “never more fascism.” Representatives of all the parties and trade union organizations joined the rally in the center of Rome. There were the leader of the 5 Stars Movement, Giuseppe Conte, that of the Democratic Party, Enrico Letta or the Social Democratic candidate for mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri. They all came in and out from behind the box and accompanied the CGIL leader, Maurizio Landini. No one from the right, however, attended the protest. “This is not a party demonstration, it defends the rights of all. And it represents all of Italy that wants to change and close the history of political violence. Anti-fascism is not being against anyone, it is guaranteeing the principles of our Constitution ”, the union representative launched in his speech.
The request of the CGIL and the rest of the unions is for the Government to outlaw Forza Nuova as soon as possible and all fascist organizations that use violent methods to impose political ideas. “From solidarity we must move to concrete action,” said Landini, accompanied on stage by the secretaries of the UIL, Pierpaolo Bombardieri, and the CISL, Luigi Sbarra.
The show of force in the trade union world comes to a moment of weakness for this type of organization, which has lost part of its connection in recent times with the world of work with the emergence of far-right populist movements. Therein lies part of the tension of last weekend, when many of these groups accused them of not having protected the rights of workers by supporting the mandatory vaccination certificate in order to continue to carry out a job in Italy. “Not all of us agree with that measure, it is clear. But today’s fight is against fascism, ”explained Rino Spinetta, a 67-year-old trade unionist from the Apulia region, in the middle of the demonstration.
The left and the unions are trying these days to regain lost ground among the working class world. Precisely, on Sunday the second round of municipal elections is held in most of the large cities of Italy. The right wing did not want to participate in the demonstration, claiming that it was a violation of the day of reflection. “This has no impact on the elections because no one here was going to vote for the right anyway,” defended Giovanni Alberto, a steel worker from Taranto. The demonstration lasted about two and a half hours and proceeded without incident.
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