The Relations between Giulietti and Di Vittorio from 1944 to 1953 in the Cgil Papers

The essay analyzes the relations between Giuseppe Di Vittorio and Giuseppe Giulietti, secretary general of the Federazione Italiana dei Lavoratori del Mare, in the aftermath of the Second World War, in light of the Cgil records. At a time of strong ideological contrasts and deep divisions among Italy’s trade unions, the re-lations between the two union leaders were initially characterized by distrust and animosity. In a few years, however, these sentiments would eventually turn into mutual esteem. The correspondence between Di Vittorio and Giulietti and other records prove that the former, overcoming the internal opposition, aimed at a pragmatic agreement with the latter. In doing so, Di Vittorio was able to guarantee the subscription of the organization of seafarers to the Cgil at the time of trade un-ions split. Giulietti, on the other hand, won Di Vittorio’s support in the trade union struggles and, above all, made sure that after his death his son Nino would be ap-pointed secretary general of the seafarers union. The Cgil records reveal that this appointment, strongly opposed by the trade union rank and file, was mainly due to Di Vittorio’s charisma.

Keywords: Giuseppe Di Vittorio, Giuseppe Giulietti, Cgil, Federazione italiana dei lavoratori del mare (Film), trade union, seafarers

Andrea Montemaggi, Rapporti tra Giulietti e Di Vittorio dal 1944 al 1953. Dalle carte della Cgil in "MONDO CONTEMPORANEO" 1/2016, pp 5-34, DOI: 10.3280/MON2016-001001