The Maoists Strike

Italy's giant manufacturer of little cars, Fiat, has always demonstrated an ability to adapt to prevailing political and economic philosophies. Fiat's progressive president, Gianni Agnelli, supported Italy's "opening to the left," which brought Socialists into government, and he maintains an open dialogue with trade unions, including those dominated by Communists. Last week he visited Russia for a first look at the $800 million auto plant that his company is building for the Soviets. Yet back home in Turin, Fiat faces a labor crisis, fired in no small part by the activities of several hundred militant workers whom Italians have named "Maoists." By calling wildcat strikes, the Maoists have upset production to an extent far out of proportion to their numbers.

The young Maoists are mostly former farm workers from the south, embittered by city life, frustrated by assembly-line routine, and easy prey for student provocateurs, whose rallying cry is "Worker power!" Standing far to the left of Italy's established Communist Party, the mavericks spurn alliances with traditional unions, and have as their avowed aim the toppling of capitalism. While they ardently admire the Peking government, their name comes not from an official link with Red China but from their rough tactics and revolutionary chants, which resemble those once used by Chairman Mao's Red Guards. The Maoist technique: coordinated production tie-ups at key points to bring an entire department to a standstill. One day will see a flash strike in a mechanical-equipment shop, the next, a two-hour stoppage on the assembly line.

Last month 25 Maoists, demanding benefits beyond the union contract, forced a layoff of 1,300 workers by striking a crucial point on the assembly line. The next day 150 Maoists struck to protest the layoffs, and 1,000 more employees were thrown out of work.

Invasion from Outside. The Maoists' guerrilla warfare could hardly have come at a worse time for Fiat. So far this year, work stoppages have cost the company more than 2.25 million man-hours. Of those, 1.5 million hours were lost in walkouts called by unions to prod the government, not Fiat, into improving housing and transportation and reducing taxes and inflation. Another 250,000 hours were wasted in unofficial strikes led by the Maoists. Result: Fiat has had to scale down this year's production target from 1.8 million vehicles to 1.55 million, and it has a backlog of 250,000 unfilled orders. The production slowdown has allowed foreign competition to establish a significant foothold for the first time in the old Fiat fief. Imports have risen to a record 25.7% of the Italian auto market for the first five months of this year, up from 10% for the same period in 1966.

The Maoists worry union leaders, who are generally more interested in getting a bigger share from capitalism than in tearing it down. Union organizations are relatively small, fragmented and short of money; any loss of membership to the Maoists could hurt badly. Thus the unions feel forced to take inflexible positions in order to prove that they are the Maoists' equals. As one Rome-based labor expert put it: "The old union leaders get up every morning and ask which way the mob is running, so they can lead it."

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