The economic crisis has led to deep social transformations and job losses all over the world, destroying the plans and expectations of millions of men and women. The answers given so far have been completely negligible from a social point of view and favorable only to the profits of the Financial Capitalism, with no positive repercussions on the real economy.

Many have opposed these policies so far: from the Occupy mobilizations in the US, to the struggles of workers in Southeast Asia, peasants in Africa and Latin America, students in Quebèc, from the movements in defense of migrant rights, to those against the debt, to women’s movements, to the movements of people who are denied every right.

The experience of Ri-Maflow in Italy stands in full solidarity with this international movement, which, in spite of its efforts, has not managed to challenge the capitalist management of the crisis.

Ri-Maflow is a workers’ cooperative in Trezzano sul Naviglio (Milan). Until 2012 it has been the seat of the company Maflow, which made profits, fulfilled orders and ran factories all over the world. When the company shut down, the workers did not give up and decided to occupy the plant, beginning a completely new experience, based on self-management and democracy. They looked at the experiences of the Argentinian fabricas recuperadas and the Sem terra movements in Brasil. “Occupy, resist and produce” has become their motto, too.

Much has been done in just one year and a half: the disused hangars have started operating again, a “Town of another economy” has been realized, an alternative marketplace has been created, together with cultural and performing art classes and a place of “out of the market” distribution in collaboration with the association SoS Rosarno, created in Calabria (a southern region of Italy) to free migrants from the exploitation in orange harvest fields.

In the very same place that the ownership of Maflow decided to shut down, the workers, together with young precarious workers, have created moments and spaces for a new sociality.

But this experience today wants to take a step further and must do so, accomplishing the goal of operating the factory, in order to obtain a full wage for all the workers during 2015. For this purpose, Ri-Maflow is promoting a solidarity campaign with the minimum, but fundamental goal of buying a plant for the production and distribution of compressed air, which is necessary to activate all the machineries [1].

The achievement of such a goal would be an important step not only for Ri-Maflow workers, but rather for all those who want to work on a project of self-management, of opposition to austerity, and of defense of labor rights.

For this reason, we believe that it is important to support this campaign. As academics, artists, social and political activists, media and communication workers, simple citizens, we want to say out loud that RI-MAFLOW WANTS TO EXIST!

Premières signatures de l’appel:

– Joao Pedro Stedile, Movimento Sem Terra, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasile
– Ken Loach, regista, Londra, Gran Bretagna
– Frei Betto, teologo della liberazione, San Paolo, Brasile
– Themba Chauke, Landless People Movement - Via Campesina, Sudafrica
– Andrés Ruggeri, Programma facoltà aperta, Università di Buenos Aires, Argentina
– Plácido Peñarrieta, CHILAVERT Artes Gráficas y Red Gráfica Cooperativa, Buenos Aires, Argentina
– Gladis e María del Valle, Hotel BAUEN, Buenos Aires, Argentina
– Silvia Díaz, Cooperativa LA CACEROLA y FACTA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
– Juan Martín Pereyra, Cooperativa Restaurant LOS CHANCHITOS, Buenos Aires, Argentina
– Daniel Zakuski, Universidad de los Trabajadores, IMPA, Buenos Aires Argentina
– Patricia Acha, coop. LA YUMBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
– Pedro Sánchez e Fernando Rodriguez, Coop.TEXTILES PIGUE’ Buenos Aires, Argentina
– Enrique Iriarte, Coop. 19 DE DICIEMBRE, Buenos Aires, Argentina
– Osvaldo da Costa Neto, Fábrica FLASKO’, San Paolo, Brasile
– FRALIB, ex Unilever, fabbrica recuperata, Marsiglia, Francia
– Mondeggi Bene Comune, Fattoria senza padroni, Firenze, Italia
– OZ-Officine Zero, fabbrica recuperata, Roma, Italia
– Socrate, casa per migranti e Associazione Solidaria-Netzanet, Bari, Italia
– S.O.S Rosarno, produttori e braccianti Piana di Gioia Tauro, Italia
– VIO.ME <http://VIO.ME> , fabbrica recuperata, Salonicco, Grecia
– Assemblea generale ‘Encuentro Sudamericano La Economía de los Trabajadores’ c/o Textiles Pigué, Buenos Aires, Argentina
– Gilbert Achcar, SOAS, Università di Londra, Gran Bretagna
– Giso Amendola, Università di Salerno, Italia
– Bruno Arpaia, scrittore, Milano, Italia
– Cinzia Arruzza, The New School, New York, Usa
– Dario Azzellini, Workerscontrol.net e Università di Linz, Austria
– Walden Bello, Focus on the Global South, Bangkok, Thailandia
– Johanna Brenner, Università di Portland, Usa
– Pino Cacucci, scrittore, Bologna, Italia
– Salvatore Cannavò, giornalista, Roma, Italia
– Vivek Chibber, New York University, New York, USA
– Simon Chritcley, New School for Social Research, New York, Usa
– Antonio Conti, Rete ONU-operatori nazionali usato, Roma, Italia
– Elvira Corona, giornalista, autrice di ‘Lavorare senza padroni’, Cagliari, Italia
– Edenise Da Silva Antas, Università di Serra dos Orgaos, Brasil
– Erri De Luca, scrittore, Roma, Italia
– Nicoletta Dosio, Movimento No Tav, Valsusa, Italia
– Valerio Evangelisti, scrittore, Bologna, Italia
– Sara Farris, Goldsmiths, Università di Londra, Gran Bretagna
– Angelo Ferracuti, scrittore, Fermo, Italia
– Nancy Fraser, New School for Social Research, New York, Usa
– Andrea Fumagalli, Università di Pavia, Italia
– Mabel Grimberg, Directora Instituto Ciencias Antropologicas, Università di Buenos Aires, Argentina
– Nancy Holmstrom, Rutgers University, Newark N.J., Usa
– Statis Kouvelakis, Kings College, Londra, Gran Bretagna
– Michael Lowy, saggista, Università Paris V.ème e CNRS, Parigi, Francia
– Aldo Marchetti, sociologo e autore di ‘Fabbriche aperte’, Milano, Italia
– Ana Marssani, Università della Repubblica, Uruguay
– Sandro Mezzadra, Università di Bologna, Italia
– Antonio Montefusco, Università Heinrich-Heine, Düsseldorf, Germania
– Toni Negri,già Università di Padova, Italia
– Florencia Partenio, Carrera de Relaciones del Trabajo, Univ. Naz. A.Jauretche, Argentina
– Charles Post, professore al CUNY, New York, Usa
– Alberto Prunetti, scrittore, Piombino, Italia
– Gabriele Polo, giornalista, Roma, Italia
– Re:Common, sottrarre risorse naturali a finanza e mercato, Roma, Italia
– Anabel Rieiro, Università della Repubblica, Uruguay
– Pierre Rousset, Europe solidaire sans frontières, Parigi, Francia
– Sally Rousset, Babaylan-Femmes philippines en France, Parigi, Francia
– Catherine Samary, economista e militante altermondialista, Parigi, Francia
– Heike Schaumberg, Università di Manchester, Gran Bretagna
– Marina Sitrin, City University, New York, Usa
– Richard Smith, saggista, New York, Usa
– Cecilia Strada, presidente di Emergency, Milano, Italia
– Peter D. Thomas, Senior Lecturer in Political Philosophy, Brunel University London, Gran Bretagna
– Massimiliano Tomba, Università di Padova, Italia
– Alberto Toscano, Goldsmiths, Università di Londra, Gran Bretagna
– Eric Toussaint, presidente CADTM, Liegi, Belgio
– Massimo Vaggi, avvocato e scrittore, Bologna, Italia
– Eleni Varikas, Università Paris VIII.ème e CNRS, Parigi, Francia
– Guido Viale, giornalista e saggista, Milano, Italia
– Gabriel Videla, geógrafo, Università di Buenos Aires, Argentina
– Wu Ming, collettivo di scrittori, Bologna,Italia
– Alex Zanotelli, missionario comboniano, Napoli, Italia