Italian Labor: Primitive Unionism

Italian unions, says the author, are a political arena, largely because they lack a long tradition and an understanding of the meaning of democracy

Italian private industry has been more successful than Italian conservative political parties in fighting Communism. Although the results of the general election held in May of last year were hailed as a triumph for the Right, they were nothing of the kind: the Demo Christians merely drew votes away from other right wing parties, in no way undermining the strength of the Communists and the equally red Nenni Socialists. On the other hand, in last April’s shop steward elections at the Fiat plants in Turin the Communist union won only 25.3 per cent of the workers’ votes, as against 75.9 per cent in 1948.

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Italian unions, says the author, are a political arena, largely because they lack a long tradition and an understanding of the meaning of democracy

Italian private industry has been more successful than Italian conservative political parties in fighting Communism. Although the results of the general election held in May of last year were hailed as a triumph for the Right, they were nothing of the kind: the Demo Christians merely drew votes away from other right wing parties, in no way undermining the strength of the Communists and the equally red Nenni Socialists. On the other hand, in last April’s shop steward elections at the Fiat plants in Turin the Communist union won only 25.3 per cent of the workers’ votes, as against 75.9 per cent in 1948.