Solidarity with family of Adil Belakhdim and SI Cobas:

On the morning of 18th June, during a national logistics strike, Adil Belakhdim, coordinator of the local S.I. Cobas union was killed by a truck that broke a picket line in front of Lidl warehouse at Biandrate (Novara, Italy). This is not an isolated case. Adil’s murder is the culmination of an escalation of organized violence and state repression against workers’ organising, which has occurred for years in the country as elsewhere.

This latest episode adds to the list of attacks that S.I. Cobas is undergoing both from the employers’ side and from the state to silence workers’ demands, isolate base unionism and pave the way to government attacks against all workers’ living and working conditions.

One month ago, the actions organised by the Fedex-TNT workers in Piacenza, San Giuliano and Lodi in protest against the company’s layoffs resulted in physical violence and assault of the workers, travel warrants, fines, and also the arrest of two union militants.

Just a few days ago, on the 16th of June, Texprint workers in Prato suffered a violent attack by mafia squads, hired by their Italian-Chinese bosses who threw bricks at and beat up the workers in struggle.

Adil himself was already arrested and faced armed aggression in 2018 by the police during the strike against the Danish logistics company of DSV when struggling for regular contracts, sickness and work injury pay. Also in that case, the police dismantled the picket with truncheons.

Now the Italian governor Draghi and unions such as CGIL, CISL and UIL cry for Adil’s death, but we agree that they only fake this sorrow – having long been demonising and criminalising S.I.Cobas workers, militants and struggles in practice.

The determination of S.I. Cobas workers, however, has only increased – given that over 15.000 people protested yesterday in Rome and forced the police to retreat.

We send to Adil, his wife and two kids, and S.I. Cobas our deepest condolences and solidarity.

An injury to one worker is an injury to all.

 Adil lives.