Rome: The leader of Italy’s largest and most left-wing union CGIL, Maurizio Landini, stated that struggling against injustice was essential to achieving freedom. His remarks came a day after a general strike was declared by CGIL and UIL in opposition to the 2025 budget bill.
According to Ansa News Agency, Landini addressed a national congress of the Christian Associations of Italian Workers (ACLI), revealing that he had given Premier Giorgia Meloni a copy of Albert Camus’s ‘The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt’ during their meeting to discuss the budget bill earlier in the month. Landini explained that the book, known for causing a stir, emphasized the importance of personal freedom. He asserted that failing to rebel against injustice equates to non-existence, as it erases one’s presence.
He shared these sentiments with a rally in Bologna on Friday, which was part of the general strike activities. Landini urged everyone to engage in the fight against injustice, emphasizing the need for a transformative chan
ge in the country. He criticized the current state of democracy, arguing that it is not the demonstrators who threaten it, but rather the actions of those in Parliament who seek to implement a decree that, under the guise of security, actually diminishes individual freedom and rights.
During the Bologna demonstration, which CGIL reported was attended by approximately 50,000 protesters, Landini articulated that social revolt involves refusing to ignore injustice and instead promoting collective efforts to effect change. He announced the beginning of a mobilization journey aimed at fundamentally altering the nation. Landini also criticized the government’s intentions to challenge the right to strike, highlighting that Parliament is deliberating a security decree that aims to criminalize strikes, roadblocks, and factory occupations during closures, denouncing this as a significant authoritarian shift threatening both the right to exist and personal freedoms.
