Cial trade unions. This is particularly - то ехатос. ш 1970 the fascists of the MSI were able to penetrate and take over moveSouth of Italy. This time the unemployed workers saw the need to unite Lotta Continua, which is one of the main groups of the revolutionary left, played a very important role in bringing forward the demand from 1973 for a separate organisation of specific problems, but for this to be linked to the unions. They succeedthemselves Organised Unemployed: CGIL-CSIL-UIL (the initials of the three Italian trade union federations). This is a democratic structure with The housing crisis has been particularly severe in Italy because of the big move ment of workers to the northern cities during the 1950s and 1960s. This created a shortage of accommodation which sent rents through the roof.
Finally, in the early 1970s, laws were passed stopping rent increases. In protest against this, landlords stopped renting out property until the law was repealed. But this was countered in cities such as Milan and Turin by large numbers of occupations of houses and apartments led by the extreme left This struggle has continued. For examoe abour a mont aro mere was a big struggle in the Via Po in Turin -one of the big avenues of the city. There were several big buildings with 40 or 50 apartments which were not rented out. These belonged to some of the big capiAbout 200 workers families occupied the houses. A member of the far left group Avanguardia Operaia who is on the city council - a council with a Communist Party and Socialist Party ma onLy — our down a resolution te take over the houses from the capitalasts ano let mem our ara ow rente the families •nis is the second une such a struggle has occurred in Turin. Last year the city council was forced to pass a law taking over the houses occupied by workers' families with the support of the revolutionary left. Out of such struggles have begun to develop the Unione Inquilini (Tenants Union) which supports the house