A strike regardless. First we negotiate, then we’ll take to the streets if necessary, say CISL and UIL. Landini, on the other hand, turns the whole thing on its head

The general strike called by the CGIL for 20 November will be a solitary effort. The CISL has already officially announced that it will not be taking part, and Pierpaolo Bombardieri’s UIL has reached the same conclusion. This is certainly not the first time such a situation has arisen, but it is nonetheless a significant factor in relations within the trade union movement and in the implications that the announcement of a general strike has at a stage widely regarded as the run-up to the elections. It does not take much to see that the UIL’s stance has been influenced by issues that might be described as procedural.

Leader Maurizio Landini announced his decision at the end of the Via Maestra rally in Rome, within a context that is therefore not strictly trade-union-based but which bears witness to the relevance of the CGIL’s idea of leading a ‘social coalition’ that effectively excludes other representatives of employees and instead prioritises unity of action with third-sector organisations, the ACLI, the ARCI and so on. In the name of opposition to the Meloni government. Essentially, the CGIL decides and announces; the other confederations can either join in or tough luck. The same scenario unfolded in recent days in Milan, where the CGIL organised a demonstration and sit-in in Piazza della Scala ‘for social cohesion’, proceeding without the involvement of the CISL and UIL. How can social cohesion be achieved when the world of labour is already divided from the outset? Evidently, at this stage, Landini is aiming to engage more with student protests than with Fumarola and Bombardieri.

The other methodological issue that must surely have raised doubts for Bombardieri concerns the timing of the strike, which ultimately precedes both substantive discussions with the government and the final drafting of the Budget Bill. It therefore lends itself to being viewed as a declaration of open hostility ‘regardless of the circumstances’. For two trade union confederations such as CISL and UIL, which are keen to define themselves as pragmatic and also organise a large proportion of centre-right voters, any opposition to the Meloni government – and indeed the organisation of street demonstrations – cannot sidestep the substance of the matter but must be carefully reasoned so as not to leave room for misunderstandings and divisions amongst their rank and file. Faced with these contradictions, Bombardieri and his colleagues are keen to point out that they have never passed judgement on the initiatives of their sister confederations, nor have they ever joined strikes called by others. General strikes are called when the need arises and, in any case, jointly.

That is not all. The greatest concern harboured by the UIL leadership relates to the negative effects that the call for a general strike may have on negotiations with employers’ organisations regarding the reform of the collective bargaining system and trade union representation. These are negotiations to which Bombardieri attaches great importance and which have already involved the trade union confederations in a long and delicate process of building consensus, first internally and then with their counterparts. It is worth recalling that, within the government around the deadline of 1 May 2026, there were pressures to undermine those negotiations, and it was only in the end that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s stance prevailed – to give space to the ‘traditional’ trade union representatives and avoid regulations that would encourage the fragmentation of the unions. In the UIL’s view, that outcome is far too important to put back into jeopardy by failing to reach an agreement with employers, led by Confindustria. Unfortunately, after a few initial successes, the reform talks have stalled over the sensitive issue of wages, and a general strike ‘come what may’ certainly does not help the efforts to mend fences. A successful outcome of the talks, on the other hand, would, for Bombardieri, mark the defeat of ‘pirate’ contracts and a rise in wages. Both are considered priorities by the UIL. The union is also said to be heavily engaged in another battle: that of calling on regions and local authorities to reduce local taxation, which currently eats into a large part of the contractual pay rises.