Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1892-12-05
STRIKES IN ITALY.
Interesting Record of Labor Organixa-
tions' Growth and Power.

interesting Record OF LABOR OrgantE8-
tions' Growth and Power.
An Italian official, Commander Bodio,
director general of the statistical depart
ment, has just issued a report on the
strikes in Italy from 1873 to 1891, which
goes to show that in Italy the ''strike" as
a weapon has SO far not made much i'm
preston on the organization of Italian
industry. While the "strike" is an indig-
enous institution in England, it is an
exotic in Italy. 1t has nowhere in that
country apparently taken firm hold of
the popular mind.
In the eighteen years between 1860
and 1878, according to Commander Bo-
dio, there were only 495 strikes in all
Italy, which is at the rate of only little
more than twenty-seven per annum.
They gradually increased in number up
to 1885. There was falling off in 1887,
and rapid increase again from 1888 up
to 1890. The largest number of strikes
ever known in a year in Italy were or
ganized in 1890, but even then they only
numbered 1856. Between 1878 and 1891
Commander Bodio finds that of ,O62
strikes more than half-543-were Or
ganized to secure an increase in the rate
of wages, 68 to secure a diminution in
the hours of labor, 110 to resist reduc-
tion of wages, 16 to resist an increase in
the hours of labor, and cola very large
percentage-to settle disputes between
the wage earners and the employers
about discipline, management, modes
and forms of payment, and personal
questions arising out of changes pro-
posed or desired in the organization of
the different industries concerned.
Strikes brought about to support and en-
courage strikes already existing in other
ndustries-which make a very frequent
feature in the history of English strikes
have so far been exceedingly rare in
Italy. AS to the result of strikes, the
Italian record is not encouraging from
the point of view of the wage earners.
Out of 1000 strikes Commander Bodio
ascertains that 174-hardly II per cent.
ended by a triumph of the wage earn
ers, 44S ended unfavorably to the wage
earners, and in 379 "honors were easy"
neither the wage earners getting nor the
employers keeping precisely what they
wanted. The industries most affected
by strikes have been textile factories,
mines, metallurgy and machine shops.
Geographically speaking, Lombardy
and Piedmont are the chief theaters of
the Italian strikes. Out of ,030 strikes
only 96 occurred in Sicily, and those
almost exclusively in the mining indus
tries of that island, many of which are
carried on by foreign capitalists.
The number of wage earners taking
part in the Italian strikes is increasing
much more rapidly than the number of
strikes. This is noteworthy feature of
the Italian situation as set forth in the
report of Commander Bodio. Up to 1882
the number Of wage earners out on
strike never exceeded 10000. In 1888
and 1889 it rose to 10000 and in 1890 to
10000. In 1891 no fewer than 81 900
wage earners went out in seventy five
strikes, of which alone out of the whole
number in that year Commander Bodio
is able to give full returns. The most
important of these strikes of 1891 were
the strike in the machine shops of Milan,
which lasted two weeks and in which
1900 wage earners went out; the strike
of the weavers at Schio, in which l 300
went out; the strike of the cigar makers
at Naples, in which 2,000 wage earners
went out for ten days; the strike of the
female weavers at Como, in which more
than 1000 went out for fortnight, and
the strike of the tanners at Genoa, of
whom 600 went out. Most of the Italian
strikes have been of very brief duration.
In the whole record of Italian strikes
only 1876 have lasted three months out of
993, the duration of which has been pre-
cisely ascertained, while 621 ended in
less than four days. One of the most
important aspects of the strike system
finds no place in Commander Bodio's
report. Although since 1884 the system
of strikes has taken on decidedly
socialistic turn in the rural districts of
Italy, Commander Bodio tells us moth.
inc about the apricultura1 atrikao