In the 1970s, Italy lived through an unprecedented cycle of labor conflict, that started with the Fiat strike in September 1969, and ended with the “March of 40,000” in Turin in October 1980.#The dynamics of industrial relations in Italy had previously seen moments of particularly strong conflict which had been followed by a retreat of the unions: the occupation of the Red Biennial (1919-1920), the brief period of the National Liberation Committees within companies after the Second World War, and the new cycle of battles at the beginning of the 1960s.#The Long Autumn of the 1970s, favored by uncertainties among business groups, saw the Italian trade union movement take on a leading role that went beyond that of mere representation, with so-called “pan-unionism”. The lack of a reformist political party as an ally, the inability to acknowledge the existence of management and economic constraints, and infiltration by violent groups, laid the basis for the defeat of the movement at the end of the decade.