<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
<p>Now available for direct ordering and/or free download…<br>
<br>
<b>The Magneti Marelli Workers Committee – The “Red Guard” Tells
Its Story (Milan, 1975-78)</b><br>
Emilio Mentasti<br>
<br>
In a large factory in Milan in the mid-70s, a few dozen workers
organized themselves against both the management and the unions in
an autonomous Workers’ Political Committee. Soon, this “Red Guard”
consisted of hundreds of workers fighting against layoffs and
relocation. The Committee did not stay shut up within the walls of
the factory. It participated in numerous other struggles, such as
strikes and demonstrations, which were raging across the whole of
Italy. Crucially, it took part in attempts to unify the movement
of workers’ committees on a regional level. And it also
participated in the radical struggle against inflation, where
workers refused to pay ever increasing prices. This movement of
autoreduction famously inspired Dario Fo’s play Can’t Pay? Won’t
Pay! <br>
<br>
Magneti Marelli was not the only factory in Italy to create
autonomous workers’ organizations, but its Committee served as a
reference for all the others because of its bold initiatives and
its capacity to help workers in the surrounding smaller workplaces
to benefit from its experience. Its exemplary fight was a vital
part of the revolutionary struggle in Italy during the hot decade
1968-1979, and one that still contains important lessons for class
struggle militants today.<br>
<br>
Bio: Emilio Mentasti is a historian who has published several
books on the history and organization of the autonomous workers
movement in Italy.<br>
<br>
PDF available freely online:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.minorcompositions.info/?p=1002">https://www.minorcompositions.info/?p=1002</a><br>
<br>
Ordering Information: Available direct from Minor Compositions now
for the special price of £10.<br>
<br>
Release to the book trade May 2021<br>
<br>
Released by Minor Compositions, Colchester / Brooklyn / Port
Watson<br>
Minor Compositions is a series of interventions & provocations
drawing from autonomous politics, avant-garde aesthetics, and the
revolutions of everyday life.<br>
<br>
<br>
</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Minor Compositions is a series of interventions
& provocations drawing from autonomous politics,
avant-garde aesthetics, and the
revolutions of everyday life.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.minorcompositions.info">http://www.minorcompositions.info</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://twitter.com/minorcomps">https://twitter.com/minorcomps</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/255105881183214/">http://www.facebook.com/groups/255105881183214/</a></pre>
</body>
</html>