One hundred years ago he was born in Gambettola, in the ''solatia'' Romagna,' Luciano Lama, the future general secretary of the CGIL and one of the greatest union leaders. He was the son of the station master, who, after the war, was transferred to the Bologna station where he went to live with his family. Lama studied at the Liceo and attended the University in Florence where in 1943 he graduated in Social Sciences discussing the thesis with Piero Calamandrei.
Reserve officer after 8 September reached partisan formations. Due to his military experience he was appointed chief of staff of a division that liberated Forlì. The CNL appointed him to direct the local CdL. A fusionist socialist, he later joined the PCI.
Giuseppe Di Vittorio took him with him to Rome with the role of deputy secretary of the CGIL. Subsequently he was appointed secretary general of the federation of chemists and a few years later al summit of Fiom, where he remained until 1962 when he was called to fill the position of Luciano Romagnoli in the secretariat, a still young, highly prestigious manager from Federbraccianti, who was forced to resign due to a serious illness which in a few years led him to death.
In 1970, after the 1969 Congress in which the incompatibility between union positions, party positions and elective mandates had been decided, Lama replaced Agostino Novella (who chose to remain part of the PCI political office) at the head of the CGIL where he remained until 1986. He switched to the party, but was soon elected Senator and Acting Vice President of the Senate.
Once this experience was also exhausted, he accepted willingly and in a spirit of service to be elected mayor of Amelia, the Umbrian town where he had his good retreat. Seriously ill, he resigned, making his motives public. He died at age 75 on May 31, 1996.
If you want to address the issue of the union (and of the CGIL, in particular) it becomes mandatory to talk about Luciano Lama, who has provided a great contribution to liberate the trade unions from the anxieties of the fifties and sixties to transform them into powerful and authoritative plants. Lama is the person who represented – thanks to the contribution of the media and his ability to ''break the screen'' – this evolution, which not only gave an image of calm and responsible strength to the union, but also imposed it among the great protagonists of the life of the country, making it familiar to Italians, like any other reality belonging to their daily life.
I have often asked myself in recent months – while I was writing an e-book on his life which will be published in these days by Adapt with the title ''O Captain, my Captain. The century of Luciano Lama'' – if the deceased are allowed to follow the river of life that continues (where it is not possible to bathe in the same water) and see with the rational disenchantment of one who is outside the fray and daily miseries the real reasons for what is inexplicable with our measuring meters is happening around us, children of other times, left to cross this ''valley of tears''. Although I have found my faith again, I can't imagine that the ''dear departed'' follows our paths, perched on a cloud, awaiting the resurrection of the flesh.
The human being is immortal for other reasons: because the network of affections, of relationships with other people; the works accomplished in life, for better or for worse, have intersected with other stories and with other destinies and spread on the net, passing on for generations. This is especially true for great leaders (not just politicians and union leaders) in their fields of expertise. If this is the essence of the immortality of the soul, we must believe that Luciano Lama sees reality through our eyes, share our concerns, as we are surprised to witness changes that we never expected.
What can Luciano's thoughts be today, when troublemakers led by fascist scum go to theassault on the headquarters of the CGIL, left unattended because it was a Saturday? But above all when the resurgence of hooligan fascism is "instrumentalized" (albeit rightly so) by today's leaders of "his" CGIL, to divert attention from the no-vax phenomenon which is present in a massive way even within trade unions.
I imagine that Landini, if he had to answer this question point-blank, would start by bringing into question the opinions of the workers, which a union must take into account. But Lama would immediately shut his mouth as he did with us when we unloaded our responsibilities on the workers and employees who didn't follow our directives and initiatives. ''I know what the workers say – Lama replied – I'm interested in knowing how you respond to them''. Luciano taught us to observe the moon and not the finger that points to it. We should be able to understand that the travail of these years does not belong to a transition phase that is being overcome: it is the expression of a profound change of values which constitute the soul of a people, the culture of a nation. If this were not the case, public opinion would not be ''mitridatized'' by the vulgarity of some exponents, by the stupidity of others, by the seriousness of some conduct, by violence against institutions, by inhuman feelings which lead to consider ''invaders '' hostile are those poor people who practically swim across the Strait of Sicily, whose fate we are not interested in.
In Luciano's day, dock workers blocked ports in solidarity with the Vietnam War; not to have an infinite number of tampons (perhaps free) stuffed up your nose - as in Trieste - in order to escape vaccination. That's why I consider it difficult to recover, especially in the span of time I have left to live, the best Italy I've had the good fortune to know. Lama's Italy.
