Police charge striking FIAT workers in Melfi
01 March 2004
On 26 April 2004, the police charged workers from the FIAT-Sata factory in San Nicola di Melfi (Basilicata, southern Italy) who had been striking for a week over their low pay and longer working hours, compared with other Fiat factories. The charges, during which truncheons were used against picketing workers, resulted in ten injured metalworkers and three policemen. Police tried to clear the road into the factory that was being picketed by workers, allowing two buses of workers to enter the establishment (out of a total of 4,000 workers) in the morning. Another busload of workers was turned back in the afternoon. In response to the police charges, the Federazione Italiana degli Operai Metalmeccanici (FIOM-CGIL), the metalworkers branch of CGIL trade union, called a strike in the sector, and workers also struck in many factories belonging to the FIAT group, including in Mirafiori, in its Turin backyard.
The interior ministry undersecretary, Alfredo Mantovano, told parliament on 27 April 2004 that the strike was not unanimously backed by all the trade unions (it was supported by FIOM-CGIL, UGL, Cobas and some autonomous unions, while it was opposed by FILT-CISL and UILM-UIL), and that the police had to guarantee the right to work of those who chose not to support the strike. Mantovani claimed that peaceful attempts by the police to protect these workers' right to work encountered "hard resistance", such as lying down on the road, and through "quick and continuous movements" that made it difficult to clear the road. He reported that some demonstrators threw stones at the police, injuring Amalia Di Rocco, the official responsible for public order; and that it was only then that the police charges took place.
On the other hand, workers argued that from the very start, they had said that they would allow workers to cross their picket lines if they went on foot, and that Amalia Di Rocco was injured by the charging policemen, rather than being the flash-point that caused the charges. They claimed that a video recording supported their view. In subsequent days, when the police ensured that workers who did not support the strike could enter the factory, it was semi-deserted nonetheless. Interior minister Giuseppe Pisanu called on workers to resume negotiations and to isolate the "provocateurs".
Interior ministry undersecretary, Alfredo Mantovano, reported on the police intervention in Melfi, Parliament 27.4.04; www.cittadinolex.it; Il manifesto, 27-30.4.04.up