October 13: Dean and Party Secretary Deng Chunyun Meets Representatives of the Italian General Confederation of Labour, Milan District

On October 13, 2016, Deng Chunyun, Secretary of the Party Committee and Dean of the Academy of Marxism of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, accepted an invitation from the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL) and travelled to the CGIL Milan branch to hold a discussion with relevant leaders of the trade union in that region.

2016年10月13日，中国社会科学院马克思主义研究院党委书记、院长邓纯东应意大利总工会邀请，赴意大利总工会米兰分会所在地，与该地区工会相关领导人进行了座谈。

The Italian leaders participating in the discussion included primarily Mr. Massimo Bonini, President of the CGIL Milan Region; Ms. Verona, Head of the Labour Market-Training and Research Department of the CGIL Milan Branch; Mr. Romano Alice, Head of the External Relations Department of the CGIL Milan Region; Mr. Bombacci, Head of the Cultural Department of the CGIL Milan Region; and Mr. Vladimiro Vaja, Researcher of the 21st Century Marx Political and Cultural Association of Italy. Chinese scholars also participating in the discussion included Researcher Tang Zhouyan, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Shandong Academy of Social Sciences; Professor Xiao Guiqing, Vice Dean of the School of Marxism at Tsinghua University; Professor Ding Xiaoqiang, Dean of the School of Marxism at Tongji University in Shanghai; and Researcher Lü Weizhou, Director of the International Communist Movement Department of the CASS Academy of Marxism.

参加座谈的意方领导人主要有意大利总工会米兰地区主席马西莫·伯尼尼先生、意大利总工会米兰分会劳动力市场-培训与研究部负责人维罗娜女士、意大利总工会米兰地区外联部负责人罗马诺·阿利切先生、意大利总工会米兰地区文化部负责人鲍姆巴齐先生和意大利二十一世纪马克思政治文化协会研究员弗拉狄米罗·瓦雅先生等。山东社会科学院党委书记唐洲雁研究员、清华大学马克思主义学院副院长肖贵清教授、上海同济大学马克思主义学院院长丁晓强教授以及中国社科院马研院国际共运部主任吕薇洲研究员等中方学者一同参加了座谈。

Dean Deng Chunyun first introduced to the Italian leaders the origin and significance of the "China Road" Europe Forum and expressed the hope that this opportunity could be used to exchange views and judgments on the national conditions of China and Italy and on the situation in the Eurasian region and the world. Subsequently, the two sides engaged in in-depth exchanges and discussions on the nature, organisation and relevant laws of trade unions in China and Italy. Regarding the current situation of the Italian working class, President Massimo Bonini believed that, compared with political issues, the European working class today seems more concerned with the economic situation and personal destiny. For example, Italian workers are very interested in China's economic development, especially in areas such as high technology, investment and Taobao [1]1 Taobao is a major Chinese online shopping platform operated by the Alibaba Group.. President Massimo Bonini stated that the CGIL, founded after the Second World War, is the largest trade union in Italy, does not represent any political party, only represents the interests of the working class, and actively works to safeguard the rights and interests of the Italian working class. Currently, the ruling party in Italy has enacted many policies harmful to the interests of the working class, and workers generally lack trust in the government and the ruling party, although the frequency of large-scale strikes has declined somewhat. Regarding the sectoral distribution of union members, President Massimo Bonini noted that the total registered members of the CGIL Milan Branch from industry, services, commerce and public utilities are currently 48,000, 43,000, 25,000 and 16,600 respectively, with industrial members accounting for 22% and agricultural members 7%. Chinese scholars also provided explanations and responses on the current situation of Chinese trade unions, relevant Chinese laws, and the protection of Chinese workers' rights and interests.

邓纯东院长首先向意方领导人介绍了“中国道路”欧洲论坛的由来及意义，并希望借此机会交流彼此对中意两国国情、欧亚地区及世界形势的认识与判断。随后，双方就中意两国工会的性质、组织、相关法律等进行了深入的交流与探讨。关于意大利工人阶级的现状，西莫·伯尼尼主席认为，较政治问题而言，今天欧洲的工人阶级似乎更关注经济形势和个人命运，比如意大利工人非常关注中国的经济发展，尤其对高科技、投资、淘宝等领域很感兴趣。西莫·伯尼尼主席表示，成立于二战后的意大利总工会是意大利最大的工会，不代表任何党派，只代表工人阶级的利益，并积极致力于维护意大利工人阶级的权益；当前意大利执政党制定了许多有损工人阶级利益的政策，工人普遍对政府和执政党缺乏信任，但大规模罢工的频率有所下降。关于工会成员的行业分布，西莫·伯尼尼主席谈到，目前来自工业、服务业、商业、公共事业领域的意大利总工会米兰分会注册会员总数分别为4.8万人、4.3万人、2.5万人和1.66万，其中工业会员占比22%，农业会员占比7%。中方学者还就中国工会的现状、中国相关法律、中国工人的权益保护等问题进行了说明和回应。

Through frank and friendly exchanges, the two sides agreed that strengthening comparative research on the trade unions and the current situation of the working class in China and Italy is of great significance, and expressed the hope to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in the future.

通过坦诚友好的交流，双方一致认为，加强中意两国工会及工人阶级现状的比较研究意义重大，期待未来进一步加强双边合作。

(Contributed by He Qin)

（贺钦 供稿）