Italy: Massive rally in Piacenza against the persecution of trade unionists

With a massive demonstration held in Piacenza, in Italy's northern region of Emilia Romagna, thousands of workers, men and women, people of every age, demanded the release of the eight trade unionists of Si Cobas and USB who remain under house arrest.

The trade unionists were placed under house arrest and searched on July 19th, based on a 350-page indictment of the Piacenza Public Prosecutor’s Office against USB and Si Cobas unions. 

PAME denounces the attempts to criminalise trade union action in Italy

In a statement the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME) stresses out: 

In Italy the USB and Si Cobas unions are facing a 350-page indictment by the Piagenza Public Prosecutor’s Office in which the unions and trade unionists are accused of “crimes” such as picketing strikes, protests and mobilisations in the logistics sector. 

On the basis of this indictment, a police operation has been carried out since this morning with searches of trade unionists’ homes and the arrest of 4 USB trade unionists.

Italy: 200,000 students in the streets declared "No to the school of capitalists!"

"No to the school of capitalists", reads the banner.

On Friday 18th of February, under the slogan "No to the school of capitalists", approximately 200,000 school pupils held massive protests in more than 40 cities across Italy, demanding the government to end the obligatory work placements in the last three years of school.

The demonstrations, in which the Front of Communist Youth (Fronte dela Gioventú Comunista) has a leading role, were triggered after a student, 16-year-old Giuseppe Lenoci, died in a road accident on Monday while he was on board a truck for a school-work internship. 

Italy in the streets: General Strike on October 11th

In a statement the Italian USB Trade Union (Unione Sindacale di Base), jointly with other class oriented trade unions and workers' association, has proclaimed a General Strike, for both public and private sector, throughout the country on October 11th. 

The statement reads:

The Draghi government has literally removed from the economic recovery plan of the country the interests of Italian workers. With the complicit support of CGIL, CISL and UIL, the layoffs have been unlocked, starting a wave of redundancies, relocations and heavy restructuring throughout the private sector.

Italy: Solidarity with Alitalia workers!

Hundreds of striking air workers blocked the highway to Rome's Fiumicino airport on Friday demonstrating against the government's plans to cut jobs in the transition between Alitalia and a new carrier dubbed ITA. 

Italian police forces responded with violence to the workers' protesting at the highway. 

Unions say that only 2,800 out of a total of nearly 11,000 employees of Alitalia will be immediately re-hired by ITA and that the labour contract offered by ITA will be less generous than the one of Alitalia.

Raffaella Carra: “I always vote communist"

Within a period of a few months Italy lost two significant artists, two great singers, two socially and politically conscious women. 

The iconic "La Rossa" Milva died on 23 April 2021 while Raffaella Carrà, the talented singer, dancer, actress and TV presenter, passed away on June 5th, aged 78. 

Raffaella Maria Roberta Pelloni, as her full name was, will be remembered as an energetic, overwhelming and ingenious personality who became one of Italy's most beloved artists in the second half of the 20th century. 

Contro il governo Draghi — Communist Party of Italy held nationwide protests against Draghi government

Hundreds of members and supporters of the Communist Party, Italy (Partito Comunista) participated yesterday, Saturday 27th February, in nationwide protests against the government of Mario Draghi. From Rome's San Silvestro square to Piazza Castello in Turin, the communists sent a strong message of struggle, reaffirming their strategic aim of social alliance against the pro-capitalist, closely affiliated with EU and NATO,  policies of the new government. 

Protests were held in numerous cities, including Milan, Florence, Genova, Napoli, Palermo, Reggio Calabria, Terni and elsewhere,

Italian USB trade union slams the new Draghi government

The Italian trade union USB (Unione Sindacale di Base) has released a statement condemning the formation of the new government under the leadership of former banker Mario Draghi. 

The USB statement reads:

The national coordinations of the categories of the Unione Sindacale di Base met on Saturday 13 February 2021. This is the note unanimously approved.

Italy's Communist Party marks its 100th anniversary

Today, 21 January, marks the 100th anniversary since the foundation of the Communist Party of Italy in 1921, following a split in the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). The Party was founded in Livorno in 21 January 1921, headed by Antonio Gramsci, Palmiro Togliatti and Amadeo Bordiga.

In a turbulent course of 70 years until the final dissolution in 1991, the Communist Party of Italy, renamed as Italian Communist Party in 1940s,  left an indelible mark in the country's history. A member of the Communist International until 1943, it became the largest Communist Party in the western world with almost 2.3 million members in 1947. 

Questo è il capitalismo: Queues form outside Milan food banks as capitalist crisis deepens

The scenes you are going to see are from Milan, the industrial, commercial and financial center of Northern Italy and one of the Europe's wealthiest cities. Hosting a significant number of large multinational groups (e.g. Amazon, Apple, Coca Cola, HP, Huawei, IBM, Microsoft, Nestle, Samsung, Siemens, Vodafone, Whirpool, etc), Milan has in terms of GDP the second-largest economy in the EU after Paris.

But behind the impressive facade of capitalist growth, there is another Milan which reflects the deepening class inequalities and the results of long-time policies by the bourgeois Italian governments and the European Union. 

Italy's Unione Sindacale di Base (USB): Ten years of class-oriented, independent and internationalist activity

This year marks the 10th founding anniversary of Unione Sindacale di Base (USB), Italy's independent, class-oriented trade union. In a message for the 10th anniversary the USB points out: 

"We could not celebrate together the tenth anniversary of USB, we do it now with this video that traces some important moments of our existence.

From the first congress, that of the unification between RdB and Sdl Intercategoriale, to date, thousands of initiatives, struggles, conferences, participation in international events have marked our first ten years.

#ScioperaPerMe: Workers in Italy go on strike demanding more protection measures due to Covid-19 pandemic

Thousands of workers participated in the General Strike initiated by the Italian trade Union USB (Unione Sindacale di Base) on Wednesday 25 March. Throughout Italy, from Trieste to Taranto, all non-essential production stopped, sending a symbolic but militant message to the government about the workers’ rights and demands. 

The strike comes as a response to the criminal policy of the government and big employers that denied the suspension of unecessary activity in industries and businesses during the COVID-19 outbreak, thus endangering millions of lives, including those of the workers. 

Marco Rizzo: "Covid-19 killed EU and capitalism. The only solution is socialism"

Interviewed by affaritaliani.it, the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party, Italy (Partito Comunista) Marco Rizzo analyzed the actual reasons behind the dramatic situation that exists in Italy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The dramatic health situation that Italy is experiencing these days shows clearly how in the last 30 years, since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the disappearance of the Soviet Union, the entire welfare state and public healthcare of our country has been dismantled”, points out Rizzo. 

Italy's Communist Party increases its power in Rome by-elections

Communist Party leader Marco Rizzo gained the 4th place in the supplementary elections that took place on Sunday in Rome’s Lazio 1 constituency. 

Rizzo received 2.62% of the votes, which is seven times higher than the percentage in the 2018 elections (0.37%), thus marking a successful electoral performance for the Communist Party (Partito Comunista), given the existing correlation of forces.

A message, written in Italian, at the Communist Party's official website reads: 

"Si Fottano!": Italian communist leader Marco Rizzo tore up EU Parliament's resolution which equates communism with fascism

Thousands of members and supporters of the Communist Party (Partito Comunista) from across the country gathered on Saturday in Rome's Piazza Santi Apostoli, protesting against Italy's bourgeois government and the European Union. 

In a symbolic gesture, the General Secretary of the Communist Party, Italy, Marco Rizzo tore up a copy of the recent EU Parliament's resolution which equates communism with fascism. In his speech, Rizzo condemned the resolution for rewriting history through the unhistorical and despicable claim that the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was the cause behind the Second World War. 

Marco Rizzo responds to the anti-communist slanders of "Lega Nord" member

Marco Rizzo (left). On the right, Iacopi with Matteo Salvini.
Photo: lariscossa.com

Being a communist is "an incurable disease". This is what Emilio Iacopi, a local representative of Matteo Salvini's Northern League (Lega Nord) and a former sergeant of Italian police, wrote during an anti-communist rant on social media. 

According to La Riscossa, organ of the Communist Party, Italy (Partito Comunista), the General Secretary of the Communist Party Marco Rizzo responded to the hideous remarks of Iacopi. More specifically he wrote on Twitter:

Dimitris Koutsoumbas in Rome: "Every vote to the Communist Parties is a contribution to the common struggle of the people" (Video, Photos)

"Every vote to the Communist Parties consists a contribution to the strengthening of the common struggle of the people" said the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas during his greeting speech in Rome. 

Koutsoumbas, along with the KKE MEP Kostas Papadakis, attended an electoral rally of the Communist Party, Italy (Partito Comunista) in San Lorenzo district, where he received a warm welcome by the Italian comrades.

"Honor the past, conquer the future" - Italian communists honored Liberation anniversary

With vibrant rallies and mobilizations Italian communists honored the anniversary of the country's liberation from fascism on April 25th. 

In a statement, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party, Italy (Partito Comunista) writes, among other things, that "remembering the victory over fascism is not a rituality, but a precise link with our history and the ideals of liberation and social justice that animated the partisan struggle".

Partito Comunista, presente! Communist Party, Italy will participate in European elections

Communist Party's General Secretary Marco Rizzo.

The Communist Party, Italy (Partito Comunista) is going to participate in the 2019 European Elections on May, after overcoming the remaining legal obstacles. According the Italian law, a party can take part in the European Elections after the collection of 145,000 signatures, including high regional shares (e.g. 3,000 in Valle d'Aosta), which is also a very costly procedure. In fact, this law consists a privilege for the big parliamentary parties and creates significant obstacles for the smaller ones.

The Communist Party, Italy will be exempted from this procedure, as long as it will participate in the Elections under the membership of the European Communist Initiative, which is represented in the EU Parliament by two deputies of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). 

Italy: Communists paid tribute to the 100th anniversary of Communist International

Photo from the event in Rome (Credit: La Riscossa).

An event in honor of the 100^th anniversary since the founding of the Communist International was held in Rome, on Saturday 2^nd of March, by the Communist Party, Italy (Partito Comunista). Numerous members and friends of the Party and its youth wing- the Front of Communist Youth (FGC) – attended the event. 

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) was represented by Kostas Papadakis, MEP and member of the CC, who delivered a greeting speech.