Landini, the unifier. The much-broadened progressive camp is comfortable with the CGIL’s agenda

“Perhaps you are making an effort to pay tribute to this attentive and demanding audience, but you seem to me to be far more united than we make out.” The remark comes from Marco Damilano, the master of ceremonies at a debate involving all the leaders of the broad coalition, held yesterday in Rome at the CGIL headquarters. The remark effectively sums up what was broadcast in front of hundreds of trade unionists: great unity of purpose and broad convergence on policy, total silence on Ukraine, just one reference to Palestine, and countless thanks to Maurizio Landini, who had the brilliant idea of inviting us here.

Ultimately, he is the winner of this round – the ‘lider maximo’ of the CGIL, who yesterday presented himself skilfully and without arrogance as the ‘uncle’ of Campo Largo. The one who, in fact, summons you and implicitly asks you to behave yourself, not to squabble with your other cousins, and to smile at the audience in the hall. To say that Giorgia is the devil, that America is encouraging us, that there is a buzz in the streets and that, therefore, victory in the general election is within reach. We just need to avoid arguments, smooth things over and, on the issues that divide us, steer clear of them by repeating the mantra: ‘We will not do the right wing the favour we did in 2022 by splitting the vote’. Uncle Maurizio, aware that he’d hit the jackpot, finally reminded everyone that talk is all very well, but the general strike on 20 November (which splits the trade union front) is a key date for the entire Broad Front, not least because it offers a unique opportunity to link up with the student movement, which had already decided to take to the streets on that date. And what about you, my dears? When will such a golden opportunity come along again?

Everyone was there yesterday to secure the support of the CGIL trade unionists: Elly Schlein, Giuseppe Conte, Angelo Bonelli, Nicola Fratoianni, and even Riccardo Magi and Maria Elena Boschi in place of Matteo Renzi. Uncle Maurizio proposed a series of issues for them to debate. The abolition of public procurement contracts, a minimum wage, the scrapping of the flat tax, a tax reform to reverse the tax drag, a 1 per cent solidarity levy on incomes exceeding 2 million euros, the taxation of windfall profits, and the repeal of the Bossi-Fini law. If not a full-fledged programme, then certainly something very closely resembling one – to which some have added the abolition of unpaid work placements (Boschi) and others the ‘start tax’ to encourage young people not to leave Italy (Magi). And with every proposal, the others applauded their brilliant cousin. When Damilano asked Maurizio’s grandchildren where they would find the funds to finance ‘change’, the answers came almost in unison: tackle tax evasion, review rearmament plans with NATO, abandon the project for the Bridge over the Strait, abolish all of Giorgia’s bonuses, and even ‘improve public spending’. The only proposal on which the leaders of the Broad Coalition were divided was the wealth tax. Fratoianni was enthusiastic, describing himself as “a moderate” because, unlike Landini, he wants to apply it only to incomes of 5 million and above. Conte was opposed, arguing that those who have implemented it in Europe have failed. “It is difficult to assess wealth, and true wealth transcends national borders. But in any case, let us discuss this calmly, given that we will shortly be presenting a plan to tackle financial speculation.” So calmly, in fact, that Schlein proposed borrowing Meloni’s idea of the exit tax provided for in the current Budget Law and applying it to large fortunes.

At one point, Conte seemed to be speaking as if he were already Prime Minister, promising the trade union audience that the first Cabinet meeting would see a decision to recognise Palestine and that agreements with Israel would be torn up. Boschi appeared at ease within the CGIL, despite the fact that Landini had previously even organised a national referendum against the Renzi government’s Jobs Act. Schlein acknowledged that Uncle Maurizio had “fought the battle against fiscal drag in splendid isolation” and said that if she had to choose one word to describe the aims of the ‘Campo Largo’ coalition, she would opt for “redistribution”. All speakers appeared to agree on the need to index wages to inflation, although only Fratoianni said he would be prepared to reinstate the sliding scale, also proposing to raise the minimum wage to over 10 euros. Magi endorsed Landini’s idea of taxing the wealthy on incomes over 2 million euros and added that the time had come to apply a progressive tax system to inheritance tax as well. Schlein took aim at multinationals which, thanks to European tax havens, pay zero tax. Bonelli even let slip, “Maria Elena is right”. Conte highlighted “today’s positive atmosphere, because we are discussing substance and there is broad agreement on most points”. In conclusion, Uncle Maurizio had to get something off his chest: “They attacked me because I spoke of social revolt, but our revolt is the vote”. Damilano was tasked with bringing the curtain down: “This was the first roundtable of the ‘Open-Air Programme’”.

P.S. There remains one lingering question: if Campo Largo does indeed win, will Uncle Maurizio actually retire from public life?