The day after the general strike, we can say that it was a good choice to take part in
local initiatives. Below are some comments, pictures and video from various cities. Some
reports from various locations. ---- It was an excellent day in Cosenza . The USI - AIT
Calabria had its own initiative on the occasion of the national strike . The comrades
present in the square on Sept. 11 distributed leaflets about the strike, met people
interested and impressed by the claims expressed by the USI - AIT. ---- Many passers-by
seemed to have a lack of information about the strike and many issues related to it. Being
on the street, meeting people was a way to get around the logic of centralization and
vertical integration. ---- In Florence about 600 people marched from the Santa Maria
Novella station to the center of the city, based the Regional Council and Prefecture,
ending at the building of the confederation of entrepeneurs, Confindustria.
Striking workers marched, (mostly workers from cooperatives, health care, the post office,
telecommunications, schools and universities) and students (some of which had occupied
their schools). Some groups of workers also came from Sienna, Pisa, Carrara and Livorno.
The demonstration was led by USI Tuscany, alternative unions and social groups. It went
under the common slogan ?We are not going to pay for your crisis ? Social opposition?.
The liveliest was the student block. They chanted slogans about problems of schools and
universities and also general ones against the government's social polices. About 100
people were in the USI and libertarian block (the Florence Libertarian Ateneum and the
Kronstadt group). Lotta di Classe, Umanita Nova and Kronstadt was given out.
The problems of health care and education were central to the demonstration. They spoke
about the salary freezes, on the agreement of May 31, in which the official unions agreed
to limit the right to strike. Anti-war issues were also raised as well as the situation of
immigrants. They had a slogan, that the bosses are guilty for unemployment, not the
immigrants. At the end of the demonstration there was an assembly with an open microphone.
In Modena there were pickets on October 18 and 19.
In Parma the local section of USI carried out a picket at the Ospidale Maggiore hospital.
About 80 people took part in the action. They gave out leaflets and informed people about
the strike, telling about the difficult situation of health care due to cuts. During the
action they not only drew attention to problems but made contacts with new people.
In Pesaro there was a demonstration with libertarian people under the slogan ?Enough
exploitation and precarity ? Social Strike?. About 300 people (mostly students) went
through the historic center of the city, past the government palace. Among the
demonstrators were also members of cultural associations, unions, social centers,
pensioneers, unemployed and precarious workers...
In Trieste there was good participation of the provincial Federation of USI-AIT. About 40
workers were in the central square carrying banners and flags. A few individual members of
USB and Cobas also participated. Hundreds of leaflets were distributed and the comrades
were very visible in the busy area. It proved to be a good idea to focus on events locally.
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» (en) Italy, USI-AIT: Report on the General Strike, October 18