On the Proposed 2005 Budget

People :

Author : Federazione Dei Comunisti Anarchici

Text :

Are we so sure that Italy is in crisis? The latest official figures on orders and sales in industry indicate increases of, respectively, 11.1% and 12.9% in August 2005 compared to August 2004. Foreign demand is growing at a rate of over 15% while demand at home is up by 9.4% on sales and 11.4% on orders.

Yet the 2005 Budget provides for a reduction of labor costs of €1 bn for companies and the Minister of Labor and Social Policy, Maroni, has even gone so far as to forecast an extra €2 bn remaining in the hands of industry.

In the meantime, the engineering workers’ contract renewal is blocked on an offer by the employers’ federation of an extra €65 a month, though it is this very sector (+30.9%) which is leading the recovery.

Changing the subject for a moment, €6.5 bn would be needed to finance a wage increase for State workers, but that is also exactly how much is needed by the government in order to balance the books and bring debt to 4.3% of GDP. So, of course, it is the public sector which will see the brunt of cuts:

In other words, an all-out attack on direct wages.

As far as services are concerned, more cuts:

In other words, an all-out attack on indirect wages. Add to that the pension funds rip-off, a black hole which drains €13 bn of our deferred wages.

The Chambers of Commerce union has predicted a rise of 1.5% in GDP for 2006 and 2007 and of 1.7% for 2008: this means that Italy’s workers will continue to produce wealth bu that our pay will not guarantee us a decent living. Unless we launch a war to defend our wages.

The CGIL, CISL and UIL (orphans of Montezemolo’s Confindustria which is now benevolently neutral towards the Berlusconi government) are limiting themselves to asking for a tax reduction on incomes as a response to the Budget, whether it be greater resources to ease the tax burden (CGIL), higher tax allowances for families (CISL) or tax-free wage increases (UIL). The general strike called for 25 November by the three unions is far from aggressive and is, more than anything else, marked by an embarassing alliance with Minister Maroni on the closed pension funds, and therefore against the open pension funds that Berlusconi and in the insurance companies are demanding.

The long series of mobilizations which began with the engineering workers’ struggles and the significant united strike by the grassroots unions on 21 October, must involve all sectors and grow into an all-out battle:

(Source: Retrieved on 29th October 2021 from www.anarkismo.net.)

From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.

Chronology :

January 15, 2022 : On the Proposed 2005 Budget -- Added.

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