From the factory of dreams
The struggle of the ex-GKN factory collective against the Melrose investment fund has already gone down as the longest factory occupation in the history of the Italian workers’ movement. Since the first dismissal attempt on 9 July 2021, the workers have been resisting with broad support from civil society, because they are not only fighting for their jobs, but for an eco-social, democratic re-industrialization of an entire region. This self-confident protest by the ex-GKN factory collective is unleashing a force that has not been felt in Italy since the 1980s and is also inspiring people internationally, which is why support groups have been founded in various countries. One of the numerous cultural flourishes – in addition to plays, films and books – that this labor struggle has produced is the third Working Class Literature Festival, which attracted 7,000 participants in April 2025 under the motto “We will be everything”. The festival aims to counter the present with war, environmental destruction and exploitation with a future of solidarity and democracy.

This future shines through again and again on the grounds of the free festival, which is organized through crowdfunding and with the help of hundreds of volunteers. The entire row of tent stands with books, T-shirts and food are run by squatted farms, left-wing publishers and even an organized district of Rome. The festival organizers, including CHANGE e.V. from Bamberg, are concerned with connecting and winning struggles. And the narrative and recognition of the divided class situation can provide strength for this. The panels prove that the working class still has a lot to tell today.

Literature as a struggle for poetic justice
The numerous stories about Italian waiters in Vienna, East Asian migrant workers in China or working class families in France make the invisible visible and the conditions of exploitation tangible. They show the dehumanizing quality of alienated, precarious work. Writing becomes an act of resistance that one can join. Alberto Prunetti describes this writing as a fight for “poetic justice” for those who – like his father – receive neither political nor legal justice due to existing power relations. The thunderous applause from the audience confirms that the authors are not alone in their call for justice.

The elephants in the room
The close connection between literature and social struggles becomes clear here. Almost 5,000 participants joined the “We are non-profit” demonstration on Saturday evening to proclaim the productive value of the “public and socially integrated factory”, in which workers want to democratically determine production in exchange with the population. And not only that: after each literature panel, the “elephants in the room” took to the stage – initiatives from all over Italy, including grassroots trade unions, feminist groups, climate activists, neighbourhood organizations and Palestine solidarity groups, presented their concrete struggles. They called on the audience to overcome passivity and courageously stand up for an alternative.

The dream of a factory
Dario Salvetti – spokesperson for the ex-GKN factory collective – who, like his colleagues, was made redundant on April 1, 2025, called on the demonstration not to give up dreaming – because “we can only win what we dream of and what we fight for!”. Despite being laid off, 15 months without pay and uncertainty about the location, the workers are holding on to their dream of a “public, socially integrated factory”. The working class literature festival, which will be held next year under the motto of “winning”, encourages them to dream.