We stand by our coworkers of Officine Zero and we sign the following call for support:
Facing the
dramatic social and labor crisis that we live in Italy and in Europe,
unexpected and brave answers are needed. Officine Zero, an occupied factory a
few steps away from the Tiburtina station in Rome, is a valuable example of
temporary and unemployed workers' direct activation, to boost the economy on a
new basis: cooperation, mutualism and environmental sustainability.
Officine ex-RSI
(night train maintenance site, former Wagon Lits) was initially occupied on the
20th of February, 2012 by the workers that had been laid off. On the 1st of
June, 2013, in response to the failure of the company decreed by the Court of
Lecco, a broad social coalition, which had been supporting the workers battle
all along, re-opened the factory gates with a project to reconvert it, in order
to give new perspectives to the ongoing occupation.
The model that is
being experimented promotes innovative projects that benefit from the
cooperation between different professions and trades, from the containment of
expenses that come from sharing costs and supplies of integrated services in
compliance with the environmental, social and economic sustainability. At the
heart of the conversion project is the implementation of an officially
recognized center for re-use and preparation for re-use, where goods and waste
can be given a second life, and can be subject to inspection, cleaning and
repairing, to then be distributed on the second hand market, in line with the
best practices at European level.
In order to
optimize the recovery and use of space and equipment, on one hand, and the
socio-economic value of cooperation, on the other, many other projects have
been activated: workshops for craftswork, upcycling and prototyping, a
co-working space for freelancers and non-standard professionals, a
"chamber for self-employed and precarious work" with legal, fiscal
and social security services, a student house and a canteen. Today, one year
later, Officine Zero already looks like a wide space of collaborative
production, where blue collars, craftsmen, freelancers and students cooperate
daily. The re-generation of the space has been made possible thanks to the
reactivation of the machinery, essential for running the new productions at the
present date.
By September, the
Trustee in the bankruptcy could tender a public auction for the sale of the
machinery, with the risk that an enormous patrimony could be sold out, with no
protection of the area or of the labor. For this Officine Zero needs immediate
mobilization and wide support. Supporting Officine Zero means asking the
institutions (the Region, Lazio and the Capital, Rome, in particular) to
continue with the commitments made so far, protecting the future employment of
workers and promoting the process of workers buyout, according to the principles
of Article 43 of the Italian Constitution. Supporting Officine Zero at this
time means to actively participate in the construction of a mutual fund, which
is necessary to lay the foundations for the redevelopment of a productive and
environmental common.
In Italy and in
Europe examples of companies bailed out by the workers themselves and by local
communities are growing, while the collaborative economy is increasingly
emerging as a new paradigm of production. For this reason we invite you to sign
the call and to support Officine Zero, in this challenge that is difficult, but
crucial and fascinating for all of us.
