Blackwell Reference Online

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Cobas are independent rank-and-file worker organizations that emerged in Italian factories in the 1980s in opposition to the established system of trade union representation averse to class conflict. The history of Italian cobas can be traced to the late 1960s, during what was known as the great blue-collar movement called autunno caldo (hot autumn). In that period within the large firms of the North, some autonomous workers' collectives opposed to traditional trade unions that were linked to Italy's left-moderate parties began to develop a new form of unionism based on autonomous labor control. The first cobas took the names Comitati operai di base and Cub, and continued into the early 2000s. The philosophy of cobas is rooted in response to the repressive labor conditions in the 1960s, aimed at supporting “same wage increase for all,” without taking into account different occupational categories. Cub and Comitati operai di base were autonomous organizations linked to leftist extra-parliamentary political groups (Avanguardia Operaia, Lotta Continua, Potere Operaio) and the student movement.During the 1970s a militant Italian labor movement engaged in major strikes at manufacturing facilities, leading to significant growth in organized labor. In 1973 over 6 million Italian workers went on strike. Most notably, in March 1973 workers occupied the Fiat-Mirafiori plant for two days, ... log in or subscribe to read full text