Even the 2017 budget of the CGIL enters the battle for the appointment of the new general secretary which will take place in a few months. In fact, the outgoing secretariat of the Camusso bequeaths a balance closed with a loss of 2,6 million euros and a very tense financial situation which it will be up to the newly elected to face.
Already the discussion of the accounts for 2017 gave rise to bitter internal debates last July. Meanwhile, various confederal secretaries had to move to obtain numbers that were generally presented in April, while this year in June they were not yet available. In the end, the internal battle aimed at bringing out the recovery plan ended with a referral to the new general secretary of the burden of proposing a project.
Now Camusso has expressed her support for Maurizio Landini, who as manager of FIOM bears the responsibility for the disastrous defeat against Marchionne's Fiat, we can bet that even the keeping of the accounts will constitute a point of controversy against a political and movementist management that has burned resources to promote activities, such as the referendum on vouchers that went beyond the purely trade union reasons to assume an eminently political coloring against the governments of the Democratic Party.
Landini's competitor, Vincent Colla, shows up with a project aimed at restoring a purely trade union logic, attentive to changes in the world of work and with the aim of accompanying changes by modifying, if necessary, the instruments for protecting individual workers.
As mentioned, the balance sheet closed with a loss of 2,6 million, after recourse to provisions for risks and charges for almost 1,5 million. The reasons for such a marked departure from the past and from the same budget presented in 2016 must be sought above all in the higher expenses for political activity (referendum) and the increase in communication costs. The proceeds showed greater resistance even if a further drop in active members had to be recorded and there are some items such as the failure to collect 3,8 million credits on membership, which testify to how strong the difficulties encountered by the various categories are and by the Confederation in maintaining the level of its members.
The financial effects of the imbalance between income and expenses had important effects on debt, so much so that the Confederation had to take out a loan of 2,3 million to 15 years by giving some of the properties owned as a guarantee. However, the liquidity crisis continues to manifest itself also in the first months of this year, so much so that officials complain of delays of 3-4 months even in the reimbursement of travel expenses. And they get more and more insistent rumors about a possible staff reduction plan both in the headquarters and in the suburbs.
It is certain that the battle for the new secretariat will not be played mainly on budget issues. But it is obvious that a vision - such as that of Colla - more linked to the trade unionist's profession, revised and updated in a modern key to take into account changes in technology and the market, could lead to a rapprochement of workers with the union and therefore stem the crisis of enrollment which appears increasingly serious, and in this way also restore a financial balance. Landini, on the other hand with his movement that brings him close to 5 Stars, continues to appear as a "successful loser", a man who managed to establish himself as a national leader even if he lost the main battle of his metalworkers' secretariat, the one against Marchionne.
It was at stake the need for a renewal of life in factories where the worker antagonistic to the boss had to be replaced by a worker aware of a collaborative relationship, even if this does not exclude moments of dialectic and opposition with the company precisely with the intention of seeking a correct balance of the interests at stake. But the common interest should be to keep the company alive and grow, not to put it out of the market.
