The fascist unions of Edmondo Rossoni promoted class struggle in Italy

The fascist unions of Edmondo Rossoni promoted class struggle in Italy

The fascist union leader Edmondo Rossoni declared himself a fervent atheist multiple times. He was a Marxist who advocated for class struggle. It was he whom Mussolini appointed to lead the fascist unions in Italy. After Rossoni, in his newspaper Il Lavoro Fascista, criticized Hitler for suppressing unions in Germany—writing that he had handed over German workers, bound hand and foot, to the capitalists—the newspaper of the German Labor Front accused the fascist unions of perpetuating class struggle in Italy. The Italian fascist press did not deny this accusation but simply responded that it was inevitable and part of the struggle for life.
In April 1923, the conflict between the fascist unions and industrialists had become so controversial that a group of industrialists questioned whether "it would now be sensible to pay the communists to fight against the fascists." A month later, the future Italian communist leader Palmiro Togliatti wrote a letter to Moscow, informing them that "the industrial classes are quite wary of the new regime, fearing unpredictable developments in the class struggle with the fascist unions."
In March 1925, Rossoni supported the strike of metalworkers in Brescia, who were demanding higher wages and union recognition. Rossoni directly threatened the General Confederation of Italian Industry and the General Confederation of Agriculture, warning that he would unleash a second wave of squadristi with assaults, confrontations, and factory occupations by fascist workers. This threat remained active between 1924 and 1925 when Rossoni managed to incorporate the General Confederation of Agriculture into the Italian Fascist Agricultural Syndical Federation. His fascist unions carried out violent strikes in the fall and winter of 1924 in Valdarno, Lunigiana, and Orbetello, as well as in Northwestern Italy after March 1925.
Rossoni’s fascist unions sought labor autonomy and class consciousness. This stance alarmed businessmen and industrialists, especially due to Rossoni’s interpretation of Marx’s dynamic law of history, which led him to advocate for workers’ control of factories. He defended the position that "industrialists have the right to hold their positions only until the workers, organized in new unions, have acquired the necessary competence to take command." Many fascist union leaders, including Rossoni, dedicated their lives to class struggle and were increasingly viewed with dismay by industrialists.
REFERENCES:
https://www.adhocnews.it/i-gerarchi-scampati/
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmondo_Rossoni
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmondo_Rossoni