United We Bargain - Conflictual Trade Unionism Festival

A festival dedicated to labor and its rights

United We Bargain - Conflictual Trade Unionism Festival is a two-day event that transforms Rome's Casale Garibaldi into a laboratory for ideas, discussion, and culture centered on the world of work. Promoted by CLAP (Autonomous and Precarious Workers' Chambers) and the Cobas Confederation, the festival was created to address the challenges workers' organizations face today, giving voice to precarious, autonomous, and underground labor issues. It is not merely a series of meetings, but a blend of debates, theater, readings, music, and social interaction designed as a step toward achieving new rights.

The program: debates, theater, and music

The festival's format alternates between moments of reflection and artistic expression. Recent editions have featured highlights such as the theatrical performance "Barillette Cosmico - Maradona Pedagogista" by Christian Raimo, produced by Gruppo della Creta, and the theatrical reading "L come Luana - Tributo a Luana D'Orazio", a poem in verse and prose performed by Ugo De Vita and Emma Marrazzo, dedicated to the tragic story of the young factory worker. Alongside the performances, the program includes round tables and assemblies on health, safety, representation, and collective bargaining, complemented by music and conviviality in the courtyard of the self-managed space.

Casale Garibaldi, the self-managed heart of Prenestino

The festival takes place at Via Romolo Balzani 87, in the Prenestino-Labicano district, inside Casale Garibaldi—a self-managed space and a landmark for organizations in the Municipality of Rome committed to labor, mutualism, and social rights. Choosing a popular venue deeply rooted in the city's fabric is an integral part of the project: taking trade union debate out of institutional offices and into a vibrant neighborhood, with a special focus on community and grassroots participation.

The core themes of the festival

The heart of United We Bargain is political and social discussion on labor. Recurring issues during the festival include:

• Minimum wage and the fight against working poverty;
• Reduction of working hours with equal pay;
• Unconditional basic income and new welfare;
• Health and safety in the workplace;
• Representation, collective bargaining, and internalizations;
• Mutualism and solidarity practices among precarious workers.

Grassroots unions, collectives, researchers, and activists gather around these issues in a dialogue that bridges theoretical reflection and concrete labor disputes.

An event for Rome and the Lazio region

As part of the capital's social event landscape, United We Bargain is a key reference point for conflictual trade unionism in the Lazio region. The festival attracts audiences from across the city and beyond, offering a meeting point for those who experience the transformations of labor daily and those who study its dynamics, in an atmosphere that is both combative and convivial.