Anomalous Wave

Friday 12 December 2008 was the day of general strike in Italy. The Wave took to the streets once again and targeted banks, PdL, Confindustria, CISL, UIL and Greek consulates.

According to newspapers 1.5 million people took part in the demonstrations all over the country.

The general strike was called for by CGIL, the biggest labor confederation. Before this, the government had excluded CGIL from negotiations about the crisis. This has created a split between unions because the other confederations, CISL and UIL, are negotiating with the government and didn’t take part in the strike.

Global Project underlines the role of the Wave in creating the strike: CGIL declared the strike because it was pushed by the wave. The wave first pushed the metal workers union FIOM to launch its general strike. “The strike is a product of the wave that has been shaking universities, schools and streets of this country.”

The base unions Cobas, CUB and SdL also took part in the general strike with their own platforms. They organized about 20 events around the country. Global Project writes about them critically saying “Rank and file syndicalism is always a bit in difficulty when real movements get on the stage, movements which are not ’syndicalizable’”.

Uniriot reports about the actions organized by the Wave. “Generalized strike: We’ll make you pay for the crisis!”

“In a dozen of cities the Wave transformed the strike and generalized it with autonomous parades, actions, blocking streets and universities. Thousands of students took to the streets to strike, they crossed metropolises. We won’t pay for the crisis, we create it to reclaim income and services. We have started to reappropriate the present and we won’t stop!”

“We’ll make you pay for the crisis! The social strike of students, PhD’s, researchers, and together with the Wave of migrants, movements that struggle for housing, for commons, unrepresentable precarians - all participated in this day adding to the strike of base unions Cobas-Cub-SdL (hundreds of thousands in all the country) and the strike of Cgil (more than one million in many piazzas). Metropolitan production blocked, in factories, in social cooperatives, in schools and universities!”

Rome: Three parades went through the city: one of Cgil, one of base unions and one of the Wave and the movements struggling for housing, of migrants, precarians, students. After closing the university, the autonomous parade caught up the base unions, then detaching from them in order to conflictually go through the parade of Cgil. The parade continued its way blocking the streets of the riverside and reaching the Ministry of education. High schools students had occupied a new space near the ministry earlier that day. Social center Horus, evicted in October, was also reoccupied in the morning.

Turin: The parade of Cgil ends in Piazza Castello. From there begins the parade of base unions, the Wave and unrepresentable precarians. More than 5000 people. During the parade people stopped at a branch of Unicredit bank closing it up, as well as at the local branch of Confindustria (confederation of Italian industry) and the office of PdL (the party of Berlusconi) where they burned tires. Pictures here.

Milan: More than 10.000 students in piazza generalized the strike, remembering Alexis and the anniversary of the bombing of Piazza Fontana. “This parade is dedicated to Alexis, who was, in the age of 15 years, killed by a bullet shot by the police, in the occasion of a mobilization against the education reform. From Milan to Athens, with Alexis in our heart, we’re not afraid of the new strategies of tension, we don’t believe in the securitarian fears that are being created against every form of difference, in the name of rhetorics of legality.”

Padua: Students of the Wave targeted offices of temp agencies and offices of Cisl and Uil (unions which decided not to take part in the strike).

Perugia: Several hundreds of students and precarians construct an autonomous parade. The parade makes its way to the Greek consulate to say that we want justice for Alexis, one of us.

Naples: Thousands in the parade: students, precarians, base unions, movements fighting for commons. During the parade some banks were “sanctioned” and paint balls thrown at the police headquarters and police lines.

Ancona: Thousands took part in the autonomous parade of the Wave. In the end they occupied the Greek consulate. Pictures here.

Venice: Thousands of precarians, migrants and students on the “wave parade” which crossed the city. The office of Cisl (one of the unions which decided not to take part in the strike). Dozens of precarious “santas” wrote on shop windows “Alexis, one of us” and “We won’t pay for the crisis”, while migrants denounced the horrible death of a kurdish boy.

In Palermo the strike day was opened with an occupation of the Greek consulate. In Catania students symbolically occupied a Greek consulate as well.

Parades also in Pisa, Terni, Bologna, Verona, Cagliari, many other cities. In Madrid students of the Wave protested in front of the Italian embassy.