L'Autunno caldo: lotte operaie, sindacato e mutamento sociale

Abstract

The “Hot Autumn”: workers’ struggles, trade unions and social change 1969 is a key year in the history of modern Italy, characterised by an impressive wave of radical struggles and worker mobilisation. This piece analyses the causes of this cycle of conflict, which were created by the contradictions inherent in the industrial ‘boom’, as well as the tensions which had built up in the industrial relations system. Those sectors of the trade unions which were most receptive to worker demands for profound change were among the protagonists of the 1968-1969 period. The workers’ struggles had a great influence on Italian society in the 1970s and made a defining contribution to the reforms in civil and social rights.