One year after the strikes in France: prospects for workers’ struggles in Europe and Italy

Dear comrades,

on behalf of the Communist Front of Italy I would like to warmly welcome all the sister Parties attending today’s meeting.

In 2024, France witnessed massive social mobilizations that highlighted the growing discontent of workers. There were also significant protests, albeit to a lesser extent, in Great Britain and Germany. A year later, it is timely to reflect on the impact of these protests and analyze why, despite similar economic and social conditions, Italy continues to show relative stillness on the front of workers’ struggles. This contrast raises important questions about the future of the labor movement in Europe and the specificity of the Italian context.

The French mobilizations of 2024 have been one of the most significant workers’ protest movements in recent years in Europe. Triggered mainly by the proposals to reform the pension system, the increase in the cost of living and the increasing job insecurity, these protests have seen the participation of millions of workers, with peaks of over two million demonstrators on the days of greatest mobilization.

French unions, particularly the CGT, have demonstrated a remarkable capacity for cross-sector mobilization, effectively coordinating protest actions of different categories, from transport to energy, from education to health. The breadth of the movement has allowed them to maintain high pressure on the government for several months. The results obtained, although partial, included some significant wage concessions in certain strategic sectors and a reshaping of some aspects of the reforms originally proposed. In addition, these mobilizations have helped bring issues such as social justice and workers’ rights back into the public debate.

Let us bring some significant data on Italy:

• The average real wage has decreased by 2.9% in the last five years, the only case among the European and OECD countries
• The percentage of workers at risk of poverty has risen to 2% in 2023
• 24% of young people between 15 and 29 are neither in employment nor education (NEET), the highest rate in Europe
• The Gini’s inequality index has grown from 33 in 2019 to 0.35 in 2023, indicating an increase in social inequalities
• in 2023-2024 the purchasing power of Italian families decreased by 5%
• job insecurity reached record levels, with 18.5% of workers employed on fixed-term agreements or other non-standard forms of job.

Not to mention the increase in the retirement age, the continued theft of severance pay and the constant reduction in the return on social securities.

Yet in Italy, despite economic conditions that are in many cases worse than in France, we are witnessing a surprising social stillness. Although the unionization rate in Italy stands at around 31.5% compared to 10.8% in France, paradoxically, this greater size of labor unions does not result in a greater capacity for mobilization. In 2023, Italy recorded around 1.2 million strike days, compared to 5.8 million in France, despite a similar composition of the working population.

Several reasons may explain this contradiction.

1. Union fragmentation. In Italy, the division between different unions and the attitude of class collaboration of the major ones often prevent coordinated and effective actions. While in France the CGT manages to be a point of reference for protest movements, in Italy the tactical and strategic divisions between the different organizations and the rivalries between them weaken their impact.
2. Production structure and precarization of The physical and territorial fragmentation of the production units, the numerical prevalence of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, perhaps centrally controlled by monopolies and large groups of financial capital, and the precarization of the Italian labor market, with a myriad of atypical agreements and a high rate of undeclared work, estimated at 12% of GDP, makes it more difficult to organize workers. The fear of losing one’s job in an environment of high unemployment by 8.1% also acts as a powerful deterrent to mobilization.
3. Changes of political attitude. Since the 80s, labor unions have progressively moved from class conflict to bargaining, compromise, management of the existing situation and class cooperation, weakening their capacity for mass mobilization.
4. Individualization of discontent. Unlike France, where there is a strong tradition of collective expression of discontent, in Italy an individualistic and passive approach to social problems has spread widely in recent years. The class collaboration course of action of the major unions, and the support given by opportunist parties to the anti-workers and anti-popular policies of the bourgeois governments, have spread a sense of resignation and mistrust in the possibility of changing the current state of affairs through the collective struggle, with a growing detachment from active politics, or a “fan-like” attitude towards political debate. An example of this is the increase in abstention, which rose to 36% in the last elections to the national parliament and 51% in the European elections.
5. Information and The very poor, bordering on silence, media coverage of social issues and labor conflicts contributes to make invisible the problems of workers, spreading a feeling of “inevitability” of the existing conditions which weakens the will to fight and reduces the effectiveness and extent of protest actions.
6. Authoritarian legislation. In Italy in particular, but more generally throughout the EU, an authoritarian turn is taking place which, through the adoption of laws that severely restrict the right to strike, the freedom of expression and manifestation with the creation of new kinds of crimes related to the exercise of democratic, political and union rights of the proletariat. The penalties, both criminal and administrative, provided for by these decrees, falsely justified on the pretext of “security”, have been aggravated and are a strong element of intimidation.

Speaking of prospects for the workers’ struggles, despite the above some signs indicate possible developments in the near future.

1. Internationalization of struggles. The Europeanization of decision-making processes might push towards a greater coordination of struggles at the European level, with joint actions on issues such as wages, social rights and more, which might act as a boost for a resumption of political and union class struggle in Italy.
2. Unions renewal. In many countries, including Italy, there is a need to renew the unions organization, overcoming the current bureaucratic structures to re-establish a relationship of trust with workers. Greater attention must also be paid to precarious workers and those in the service sector, whether complementary or not to production, which are traditionally less

3. New forms of conflict. The traditional forms of strike must be complemented by new modes of mobilization, which take into account the contemporary productive context and the growing restrictions on the right to strike. If the bourgeoisie invents new legal and repressive expedients in an attempt to hinder the class struggle, the creativity of the proletariat will certainly be able to find new ways of fighting in step with the times.
4. Broader social There is a need to bring together the demands of other categories, such as agricultural workers and the self-employed, with those of the working class, in order to create around it broad social anti-capitalist socialist-oriented alliances. At the same time, the workers’ movement must be enabled to tackle the other great issues of the contemporary world, such as environmental issues, gender equality issues, etc., with a class-based approach that aims at the overthrow of capitalism and bourgeois power. The tool for this to happen is a strong and modern communist party.

The strikes of 2024 in France demonstrate that, when moved, if not by a clear consciousness, at least by a class instinct and by organizations rooted in the workplaces, the working class may become a decisive force in contemporary society, able to influence and change the present state of affairs.

The contrast between the liveliness of the mobilizations in France and the relative stillness in Italy is not an immutable fact, but the result of specific historical, political and social configurations. As a communist party engaged in the class struggle, we are aware that this analysis places us before specific responsibilities. The fragmentation of the class forces and the ideological retreat of many historical organizations have left a void that must be filled through a return to the scientific principles of Marxist- Leninist theory and the formation of the revolutionary party of the working class.

Our party, despite its current size, has the task of working on two parallel fronts: on the one hand, to contribute to the reconstruction of an authentic class consciousness among Italian workers, overcoming the fragmentation induced by capitalist development in the current phase and by the collaborationist approach of the major unions; on the other, to promote the international coordination of workers’ struggles, in the awareness that the struggle against the offensive of capital is more effective if it is not constrained within the limits of national borders, but is conducted in concert with class brothers from other countries. Our challenge is to rebuild, together with our sister parties, class consciousness and the capacity for mobilization, strengthening the bonds of internationalist solidarity and bringing the fundamental contradiction between capital and labor back to the center of political debate.

The class struggle, which capitalists have never ceased to practice effectively, is not an obsolete concept, but a daily reality that requires clear analysis and determined action. In this spirit, we look at the experiences of our French comrades not as a model to be mechanically imitated, but in the belief that, even in 21st-century Europe, the organized working class can still write history.

LONG LIVE PROLETARIAN INTERNATIONALISM! PROLETARIANS OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!

Closing Remarks by the Communist Party of Greece

Concluding today’s meeting of the ECAparties, we can positively assess our work today.

Of course we know that the level of development, the mobilisation potential, the level of organisation, theachievements of the labor-trade union movement in each European country differs, as do the experiences of each CP, which depend on the possibilities and conditions in which it acts, etc.

However, we believe that we as ECA were right to go ahead with today’s meeting, because there are also many common issues that all the CPs are facing, such as the attack on the working class and throughout Europe by bourgeois governments of all hues, right-wing and social-democratic. An attack that is unfolding under the conditions of intensifying inter-imperialist rivalries, even within the Euro-Atlantic bloc, and when the bourgeois classes of Europe are putting forward the planning of the so-called “military self-sufficiency”, the war industry, which practically means a new attack on the social rights and living standards of the workers throughout Europe. It is a policy that is developed alongside the intensification of anti-communism and the strengthening of the repressive mechanisms of the bourgeois state.

Based on the above, we believe that the exchange of views and experiences that we had here today was very useful and we warmly thank our fellow trade unionists, who have brought living experience that can enrich our action.

Today’s conference also shows something else. It shows the character of the ECA parties, which are oriented towards the development of the class struggle; which do not lose sight of seeking the support of the working class, of developing its struggles.

As communists, we want to be at the forefront of organizing the struggles of the working class in the great fronts of struggle that concern all the problems of the working class and the popular strata. The struggles of the workers that put obstacles in the strategy that the bourgeois classes have drawn up to increase the profitability of big capital. We fight to prevent reactionary measures, to achieve gains that will improve the lives of the working people and at the same time to show that this exploitative capitalist system that serves the profits of the monopolies cannot be healed and must be overthrown through the struggle of the working class and other popular strata to pave the way for the construction of the new socialist-communist society.

We, the parties of the ECA, stand in class and at the same time internationalist positions against the imperialist war, the imperialist alliances like the EU and NATO, the American bases and the criminal adventurist plans of the bourgeoisie, which bleed the working class all over the world for the profits of the capitalists.

We, the CPs of ECA, do not forget the unforgettable slogan of the Communist Manifesto in the development of our action to organize and strengthen the struggle of the working people of Europe in the coming struggles: “Proletarians of all countries, unite!”

Closing Remarks by the Communist Revolutionary Party of France

Comrades,

On behalf of our party PCRF, I would like to welcome again the representatives of the ECA parties. This is the first time that a conference of the ECA and even of the former defunct ECI has been held in France. We owe a special debt of gratitude to KKE, which, in conjunction with the ECA secretariat, supported all the logistics of this event. The conference was held on the important subject of “since the mass strikes rallies in France, conclusions and prospects for the labor movement in Europe”.

In France, Macron made his 2025 wishes in the context of a peak political crisis since the summer of 2024. He has recycled an old politician as Prime Minister in order to gain time and make his policies, drawn up with the roadmap of the boards of directors of the French monopolies, last as long as possible. This period of weakening of the Fifth Republic is a manifestation of the crisis of imperialism, and therefore has economic causes. Until 2024, Macron was able to rely on the economic results praised by the boards of directors of the monopolies. He was even able (of course formally and partially) to remove the issue of employment from the political arena, and to boast of reindustrialization.

However, this economic map is crumbling under the weight of ever-increasing international competition, which is currently more unfavorable to French capitalism. France’s main economic partner, for example, is Germany, whose recession for the second year running (with two falls in Gross Domestic Product (GDP)) is having a negative impact on French corporate profits. Under the Macron mandates, French monopolies have steadily gained economic positions abroad on all continents, but competition from monopolies in every country continues unabated. So, positions gained can be lost, and developments slowed down. The Chinese monopolies, for example, are exporting their capital, goods and raw materials at unprecedentedly low prices. Against this backdrop, French monopolies in general are accentuating the social pressure on workers and the ruin of small producers.

For years, the French bourgeois state has been seeking to support its capitalism and its need for capital for armaments, green and technological strategies by means of reinforced and improved wage exploitation, and by means of taxes and debt to be paid by the working people. The pension reform in France is part of this monopoly strategy, and has shown a high level of anger and fightback. However, in the absence of a trade union strategy, plan and coordination of struggles to block monopoly profits, wage earners suffered yet another defeat.

All the unions in France are dominated by the labor aristocracy and bureaucracies. This does not prevent us from supporting everything that goes in the direction of the unity of the trade union struggle on the basis of demands and with the compass of the balance of power in the strike and the occupation of workplaces. As we have seen from your speeches, the Communist Party’s task is always to propose slogans and strategies for the economic struggle. We also do this on a daily basis in the direction of workers’ struggles, under the particular impetus of our Worker and Enterprises Commission.

In France, the domination of trade unionism based on accompaniment, non-confrontation, partnership or collaboration is rooted in the strength and maturity of French imperialism, the history of the workers’ movement and marxism, and the structure of the social classes. Today, the absence of a genuine central union with class positions is also linked to the absence of a genuine communist Party recognized by the working class.

During the struggle to defend pensions, the CGT, which in the past took a class stance, never ceased to appeal “body and soul” to the “wisdom of the members of the Constitutional Council” of the French Republic, or to the “reason of parliamentarians”, and ended up concluding the struggle with the slogan, I quote : “With this struggle, nothing will ever be the same again”. And nothing more.
On the other hand, the CGT confederation never took stock of the struggle, and even today, the strategy is never discussed or debated, not even at local or departmental congresses which are now taking place or with very few exceptions. The meeting of all CGT federations in February 2023, at a time when the balance of power was rising in defense of pension, will be remembered as an unforgettable moment in the history of sinecure trade unionism.

No strategic or tactical assessment has been made by the union confederations, even though the current political crisis has led to a proposal from the new government to discuss pension reform again until June. All the trade union organizations have accepted this bad timetable for so-called concertation’s, with no plan for struggle apart from participation in the March 8 and pensioner demonstrations on March 20 and May 1… the headline of a March CGT newsletter on the most austere State budget since 2025 was, I quote : “OUR social pact is weakened with the 2025 budget”. No comment.

Yet at the same time, the anti-popular strategies of the french government and the state were well and truly confirmed. In January, for example, by the Minister for the Armed Forces declared that the 3.3 billion increases in the military budget by 2025 and the 413 billion military programming law up to 2027 were non-negotiable, even in the current budgetary and political context. And at the start of this year, by Macron has once again put pressure on Europe for a “European preference” in armaments, with the aim of taking advantage of the leadership of the French armament’s monopolies in this field. Macron has even spoken of the need to increase spending to 5% of GDP in the event of the US withdrawing from NATO funding.

Against factory closures, for jobs, wages or pensions, the solution always lies in raising the correlation of power to a higher level than the class adversary. In France, this can only be achieved if the trade union confederations are also outflanked by the workers and their class sections. Our party will do its utmost in all these battles, and to raise awareness of the fact that the cause of all evils lies in private property and the bourgeois state: this is the aim of our broad-based general campaign “Let’s Accuse Capitalism”.

Isn’t the theoretical work to find general laws for particular situations of our country ? I believe that today we have started this work on the important subject of the day.

We,  in our parties, must work hard and better in the trade unions at the same time as our independent and different communist work in the workplaces, in the working class.

Dear ECA comrades,

you have seen that, while struggles have been strong in France recently, confirming the spontaneity and qualification of Marx and Engels as the “classic country of class struggles”, they cannot be idealized. No solution is to be found in parliament, dialogue or social partnership.  Reformist forces, who do not want to change society, play their part in bringing capital and labor together. Yet it is always in struggles directed against the bourgeoisie, its parties and its state that the popular alternative can find its way to put an end to this old world by means of a revolution. In ninety forty five 1945, eighty years ago, socialism-communism saved humanity with the victory of the USSR and the armed struggle of the resistance against fascism. Every day shows how much of humanity’s hope still lies in a new communist society.

Long live the ECA and the work of its parties within the working class !