You’re right. I started to write it in english, but then since I’m living in italy and not many italians read english, I switched back to italian. So, now I’ll try to sync the two things.
What we recognized is that most of our work is done on an individual base. What we’re trying to set up is work on a collective base. Nothing new apparently, beside the fact that work on a cooperative base, according to the state, needs more structure and fulfillment of needs which usually keep people away from them. What is happening in italy (I don’t know the situation overseas or abroad) is that there is an ongoing distinction between physical and intellectual work. The physical work (be it that of a wood or metal carpenter, stonemason) tends to be considered such that an enterprise (firm) IS needed. On the other side, intellectual work can be achieved by individuals with no need to start up an enterprise. That is called “professional autonomous worker”. We are all workers that use their hands and their brain in their work, so we refuse this distinction. And, we don’t need our professionality to be certified by medieval-style corporativism. We consider ourselves more like “freelance workers”. But the definition which cuts things down is “autonomous worker”.
The need of an enterprise tends to translate to high taxation, so for eample in italy when you’ve an enterprise you’ll find yourself paying indipendently of your income more than 3600 euros (dollars) (just for retirement funding). you have to add taxes and work insurance to that. On the other side, being an “autonomous worker” means that for “retirement taxes” you’ll just pay some percentage (25%) on the income exceeding 5000 euros. Said that, with this crisis most little enterprises are shutting down because they can’t afford to keep an activity going. This is the situation in italy, where most people tend to work in the “black work” field because they’re fucked off by taxes.
As it comes to comrades, there is no visible endeavour to try to stop this situation. The only thing you’ll see is “dependent workers solidarity work’ chambers”. No reference to autonomous workers.
Much rethoric about “abolition of work”, Bob black style, no ideas on how to overcome this situation, and, which sickens it all, most anarchist city dwellers appling for “social work” in more o less direct dependancy on the state. How can they conceive such contradiction is mistery for me.
It was mainly the communist, in italy, who “championed” the cooperative work realm. But they made no clear distinction between salary and autonomous work. They conceived them in such a bad way that nowadays if your “chief” is a cooperative, your salary will be barely above minimum wage. 6 euros per hour, or even less. Wages in italy are lowering to even 2 euros per hour, for kitchen work.
So we want to start acting again with cooperative work, but abolishing the possibility to have dependent workers contracts. Each worker is autonomous, there are NO dependent workers of the cooperative and this means the cooperative is chief to NO-ONE. The rules of autonomous work, present in the civil law, still apply to the cooperative even if the cooperative as a whole is considered as a normal enterprise. Simply, there are no bosses.
It struck our imagination to discover that hidden in the civil law there was this chance to be lawfully entitled to work autonomously. That’s the thing. And it struck even more to discover that, helping out comrades to get out this fucked up work situation, was the civil law endorsing mutual support — and not comrades already doing it and sharing the thing… So we thought of thinking and acting it loud, so that other people can adhere to this simple mechanism of achieving a federation.
Needless to say that worker’s union basically apply ONLY to dependent workers. They almost don’t even take in consideration the existence of (organized) autonomous workers. So there’s plenty of emptiness to fill up, in this desert of relations we’re living in. Hope to have been clear and if you’ve objections or consideration go for it!
