WORLD WORLDWIDE ITALY SICILIA News Journal Update - (en) Sicilia Libertaria 4/2023: The congress of the CUB (ca, de, it, pt, tr) [machine translation]

 As we had announced, the congress in Chianciano was difficult, at times

unmanageable, and yet lively and passionate as only a heartfelt belonging could
emerge. A congress that was born divided and ended up split on two crucial
issues, the signing of the Consolidated Text of the Representation and the
constitution of the Social Federation, even if, and this is the case of the
writer, the fact that the final motions involved a no or a yes en bloc for both,
it created difficulties and confusion, because not all those who were against the
TUR also rejected the proposal to build a federation that organizes precarious
workers, the unemployed and those sectors that cannot be categorized, and vice versa.
But let's proceed in order. The positive that emerged from the congress
undoubtedly lies in the many narratives of struggles, of efforts to resist and
beat the bosses, of victories but also of defeats always head held high. From the
airport area of Malpensa and Linate to that of Fiumicino, from the logistics of
the Milanese area to the strong clash at Ikea, from the realities of a
desertified South where the CUB welcomes and organizes precarious workers and
immigrants, to healthcare, where the greatest growth is recorded, especially in
the private sphere, and in particular also following the no green pass movements,
what emerges is a union capable of giving answers to workers, directed by youth
forces and capable of establishing itself as a real instrument in the hands of
the class, which conquers recognition and representation with the conflict method
and not for having affixed a signature to the TUR.

The negative found is once again the persistence of an old apparatus trying to
survive; the signing of the TUR, which seems to have the majority of the
delegates thanks above all to FLAICA, the largest federation, nevertheless brings
out a bureaucratic conception of the union, accompanied by an analysis of the
loss of consensus in big industry (due to the non-participation in the elections
of the RSU) simplistic and convenient. Especially since until a couple of years
ago, and for nine years, the non-signature was considered as the feather in the
cap of the CUB compared to all those basic OSes that had sold themselves to the
system, and which didn't even achieved appreciable results with their decision to
sign. Here the clash was harsh: do we return to the factories with the compromise
shortcut but which brings us closer to the masses, or with a new ability to build
struggles and organization? Or, conversely, are these possible if one is in the
RSU and at the bargaining tables? Two visions, two experiences, even two
perspectives, which have pushed the national assembly to the brink of a nervous
breakdown that is often difficult to manage, within which the division has also
taken place over the possible unification of the industry sectors in a single
federation.

But, hidden between the lines of the clash over the proposal to give life to a
new social federation, what was consumed was the division between North and
South. Seen by some as a ploy to renew old apparatuses equipped with difficult to
quantify delegates and have more power in the confederation, transforming it into
a union of services, was, on the contrary, presented as a necessity by all those
realities of the centre-south where the closure of factories, emigration,
precariousness have created activities and situations that are difficult to fit
into the structure traditional trade union category as set in the early 1990s.
The debate brought out a vision of the centrality of the worker and of
manufacturing which excludes any "leakage" on spurious sectors, and on the
contrary, the need to combine traditional organizational work with a new ability
to affect the contradictions that have emerged in the social sphere and in the
composition of class today. The lack of reference to the southern question, to
differentiated autonomy, to agriculture (largely absent and serious gap) served
as a negative frame for this debate.

The vote on the final motions, apart from some statutory adjustments, had its
stadium epilogue in the clash between the different positions, prevailing with
101 votes against 71 and 5 abstentions, the one that postpones the decision on
the signing of the consolidated text to an internal debate to the categories to
be carried out in a democratic way, in the presence of representatives of the two
positions, relaunching the fight in support of democracy in the workplace; in the
same it is invited to define the unification of the sectors by 2025 on the basis
of the free decision of the categories; they say yes to the constitution of the
social federation and a system of financing the national CUB is identified.

A real pity for the nervous climate, fueled by elements of the two areas who
would have liked a congress with winners and losers, while, in reality, we have
experienced a mirror situation of the existing one, difficult to modify with
majorities and minorities, which perhaps will find many of the answers in
practice and in the facts of the coming months and years, when some divisive
issues today will perhaps be overcome by the new situation that already lies
ahead in the world of work (and non-work). It is strange to witness struggles for
"power" that should be banned by an organization of this type where often the
director has only many duties and few honours. And yet, experience teaches us
that sometimes it is not a question of power and material privileges, but of
indulging the instinct to command and control. And how harmful this can be is
there for all to see, because it drags us into an abyss of clashes, waste of
energy, and sometimes even stamped papers, accusations about unclear
certifications of members, the questionable use of economic resources , etc.,
which can jeopardize the daily, voluntary, disinterested work of hundreds of
activists.

Many interventions underlined the urgency of returning to battle for the
restoration of the escalator, for the abolition of the jobs act, for wage
increases; focus on the training of militants (requested by many participants);
fight for the right to housing against evictions; also consider the social wage;
set up resistance funds for strikes, on the French model; against outsourcing and
contracts in the P.I., for the recruitment of workers; against law 146 which
limits strikes. There was also no lack of interventions (and a final motion
approved by acclamation) against the war, as well as various emphasis on the
female question in the workplace but also in the organization, with the need to
relaunch the path of CUB women.

The final question is: will the newspaper be able to re-establish the concrete
and conflictual unity of the CUB? The passion, fervor, anger, energy that emerged
in Chianciano could lead to a yes. But nothing is taken for granted.

P.G.

https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/
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