What will Italy be like and what will the union be like in ten years? It does not happen every day that we discuss without prejudice the reasons for union decline and its possible rebirth in a world that is changing at the speed of sound and that has to deal with epochal problems such as globalization, biblical migrations, the boom of the Internet and technologies and the Industry 4.0 revolution. But that's what happened yesterday in Rome, at the first presentation of the book by Marco Bentivogli, general secretary of the metalworkers of the Cisl (Fim-Cisl), with the already biting title ("Have we ruined Italy? Why can't we do unless the union"). Certainly thanks to the stimulating essay by the author, one of the rare truly courageous and innovative trade union voices, and thanks to the discussants coordinated by Stefano Cingolani, journalist of "Il Foglio" and that is by Franco Bernabè, international manager and now banker, by Carlo Dell'Aringa, a great expert on labor problems and today a member of parliament for the Democratic Party, Bruno Manghi, a sociologist and intellectual of reference for Catholic trade unionism, and Irene Tinagli, a brilliant economist and now a member of the Democratic Party.
The debate on Bentivogli's book touched upon an infinite number of topics of great trade union, political and economic relevance, which it is impossible to give a synthetic account of but whose red thread was on the one hand the critical reflection on the disorientation that crosses not only the union but Italy itself and more generally the West and on the other the urgency of a vision up to the challenges of today and tomorrow to find the right answers to the dilemmas of our time. In summary, these are the interventions.
BRUNO MANGHI – Bentivogli's is a book written with a heart that rebels against the meaningless self-flagellation of the union, whose problems exist not only in Italy but throughout the West. We need to start from the awareness that the magical twenty years of the union that goes from the end of the sixties to the end of the eighties was a unique and unrepeatable twenty years and that today the problems are different. It is not enough to be on the defensive but to seek answers for a modern trade union one must first of all ask oneself what will be Italy's place in the world over the next ten years.
CHARLES OF HERRING – When the union was strong, the world was different and inflation and productivity rose almost automatically. Today this is no longer the case: productivity is too low and requires strong choices; the construction of welfare has stopped and inequalities have exploded; finally, very complicated international problems arose. Problems are not solved only by giving work, which is also essential, but a part of the population feels excluded from globalization and rebels. No one has the recipe for tomorrow but it would not hurt for the union to reflect on the German model which, with participation and co-management, has achieved results both on productivity and welfare and on the functioning of the PA and on the fight against inequalities . It is the only union outlet possible.
FRANCO BERNABÈ – I don't see in-depth analyzes around on the changes that have completely transformed Italy and on the effects that globalization and technologies have had on our country, to which have been added all-Italian problems, such as the destruction of large companies and large infrastructures of the State which allowed the union to strengthen. In Italy there is no shortage of risk capital but a country system to enhance the company both because the savings of Italians are not directed to the production system, and because the taxation that weighs on companies is penalizing, and because the Over the Top (from Google to Facebook, Twitter and all the other Internet giants) enjoy very advantageous but distorting rules for the other subjects in the field, and lastly it is because there is no longer large business while the medium-sized business does not have the dimensions to compete on the international level. Italy has not been ruined by the union but rebuilding it is very difficult and some self-criticism must also be done by the union which has never wanted the application of art. 39 of the Constitution. Today's first task is to rebuild the country's ruling class.
IRENE TINAGLI – It is true that we are in a phase of disorientation but this happens because the old ruling classes have failed to understand the changes taking place. The old politics didn't make it, the entrepreneurs didn't make it and the old style trade unionists à la Camusso didn't make it. Fortunately, new figures such as Bentivogli are emerging in the union as well, who has a vision and who wants change, wants flex but also security and understands new realities such as agile work and smart working, opening new frontiers. Enough with Tarzan's adventure in the jungle of benaltrism: change forces us to choose.
MARCO BENTIVOGLI – The second part of the title of my book (“Why you can't do without the union”) is a bit truncated because in reality one can and must do without bureaucratic unionism, the union that abuses its rights or of the prejudicially opposition union, while every energy must be dedicated to the affirmation of a new union that knows how to deal with today's and tomorrow's problems. In the best tradition of the Cisl, we at Fim, who have been growing in membership for 12 years, especially among the under 25s and under 35s, fight on the contents without being a priori for or against any government. This is why we do not spare criticism of the action of the Renzi government but we are clearly in favor of the Yes in the constitutional referendum because we have always wanted the simplification of the decision-making process and the cutting of the costs of politics. Similarly we are not for economic patriotism and in the case of Ilva we want to see the industrial plans of the various consortiums in the field.
