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History of Ajinomoto-Insud Manfredonia - Written by Rag. Michele Brunetti

the reasons for a "flight" or



History AJINOMOTO-INSUD from the beginning to the end

Told by MICHELE BRUNETTI


In sterquilinio Pullus gallinaceus
Dum quaerit escam, margaritam repperit.
"Iaces how indignant res" inquit "loco."
(Phaedrus)

PREFACE - A TALE OF THE REASONS
Chapter I - the beginnings
Chapter II - THE BEGINNINGS
Chapter III - THE INITIATION
Chapter IV - EXTERNAL
Chapter V - IN PRODUCTION
Chapter VI - ARIE CRISIS
Chapter VII - THE BEGINNING OF THE END
Chapter VIII - THE END
Chapter IX - BEHIND THE SCENES


The reasons for a story.


Many times in these years, I had news of meetings and public debates in which, among other things, spoke of the events of the first industrial plant in Manfredonia, the Ajinomoto-INSUD, and every time I cared to ask Tavano friend Mimi, the only one with whom I shared all my information about it, if they had asked about him, because they had not done it unto me, and his negative answer, we conclude with: - "They say the usual mistakes," - With

Tavano In fact, we shared many of the events narrated, always exchanging opinions, advice and information, and re-reading these notes and memories, I realized that they had used very often, the plural "we" who does not want to be an absolutely pluralis majestatis, but only the purpose of sharing with him and other friends and colleagues of those facts and interpretations of those events to attend.

often, and repeatedly asked me to know the real reasons for the closure of the factory of Ajinomoto Manfredonia, out of curiosity or to get confirmation for their belief, and then I felt:

1. The Japanese have gone a little shocked by the desire to work for workers;

2. the Japanese have discovered that the workers, instead of working, playing cards or seen pornographic movies;

3. the Japanese have discovered that the employees "stole" (what, no one would say);

4. together all these reasons and others like jokes.

Debunking these beliefs was a company that would require the unnecessary waste of a lot of energy, so if the audience it deserved, I replied only:

- "They're all wrong ideas! You have not said a single valid reason and effective. "-

To those who, instead of really want to know what were the real reasons for the industrial end of that experience, I ask first of all a willingness to devote a portion of their time, Then I try to tell the whole, not without reiterate that I can tell only those who know, if there are other reasons, of which I have cognizance, I can not talk about it.

Courtesy of Rag. Michele Brunetti

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History of Ajinomoto-Insud Manfredonia - The History of Ajinomoto-Insud


The Christmas party atmosphere in full before leaving the office and return to our homes, we went to extend our wishes for the new year, 1977, the Company's Chairman, Professor Mario Lady. We had seen off the Japanese staff, so we thought we could not find one and stay to talk a bit 'longer and peacefully. Instead we found him in the company's new plant manager, Dr. Cappuccio, sitting in front of him, but the president waved us into the same and stood up, by coming to meet with an outstretched hand.
At other times, we would be flattered by this kindness and courtesy, but do not know why, I was almost upset and confused. Luckily, my colleague Tavano was more polished than me, and after greetings and pleasantries, asked him if he wanted the next day morning, that someone other than the driver, went into the car with him.
- "No, no! No need! There are only two hours by car! And then .. "- and she turned to dr. Hood, meanwhile, had risen and was coming out: - "To distract me reread these papers, oh my God, I still do not play so well .... '-

Tavano stretched his speech, saying it would do him great pleasure accompany him and take this opportunity to extend best wishes for a good year even the President's brother, the Archbishop of Pompeii, the destination of the trip just dell'indomani morning. Meanwhile, the new factory manager, Hood, bowed out, leaving us alone with the President that in the meantime, the situation turned phrases, but also mumbling something incomprehensible and ending in Milan, so I thought, with an expression of a Neapolitan accent.

Was it because my dislike of Mr. Hood, but I convinced myself that those were the President swearing at him, as, standing up and by coming meeting, wanted to lay his neighbor across that, in fact, had gone out:

- "Everything is quiet, right?" - asked the President.

I thought the question was addressed to the Head of Personnel, Dr. Tavano precisely that hastened to reply in the affirmative and reassuring manner. Since, however, ask the question, the President looked alternately me too, I asked timidly: - "In that sense, I'm sorry?" - Reminding me that I had addressed the same question a couple of weeks before, Mr. Cipriani, formerly Chief the company until a few months ago, while I formulated its wishes for the upcoming Christmas.

And the President: - "Well, our friends unionists, always ready to jump up at every rustling leaf, in a similar situation if they are calm and quiet? Maybe you did not ... .. do not understand what's going on! "- And dismissed us, saying n'avremmo discussed that the next time.

way home in the car together and I Tavano, we asked the meaning of what we heard and what he wanted to tell us with those words, what he meant by "what's going on," concluding that, whatever it was, not In any case, arguments were reassuring for our future.

In my position as administration manager, with Tavano chief of staff, together with the Chemist, Head of Production, a stranger, and in those days absent for holidays, we were, the fact we had been to a couple of months earlier, ie before the return hood of the new plant manager, the Italians with the office more High in the company organization, and the two of us, the only natives.





society.

The joint stock company, established in Manfredonia, was founded at the end of 1963 and was named Ajinomoto-INSUD still, though now at the end of 1976, INSUD not made anymore, having sold the 50% of its property, in part to the same Ajinomoto in Japan and in part to the Deutsche Ajinomoto established in Hamburg.

At the time of the foundation, in the sixties, there were few contacts with the Western world that the Japanese were supposed to be only good at "copying" and "redo" all Western products and, with them, they were invading the North American market. In Europe, things were the most famous Japanese small transistor radios to croaking that began to bring the stadium, and Honda motorcycles. Ajinomoto

The Japanese had a large chemical industrial and financial giant, a true multinational company with operations throughout the Far East before World War II, he also had a plant in California (USA), which, however, was the first requirement by the U.S. government and then closed when, with U.S. personnel were not able to produce anything.

had in any way a history of over one hundred industrial years and the meaning of his name, Aji-no-moto, made just three terms, was the "essence of taste" or, if read in the other direction, Western, was "essence of taste". Graduates in chemistry

latest informs me that, of 36 amino acids known at the time and isolated in the laboratory, on as many as 24 patents owned industrial Ajinomoto. Always the same technique, I explained to her that the amino acids were the basis of all modern drugs, that drug companies were studying all of the most popular applications, and the discoveries were continuous and amazing.

But for amino acids also opened a large market for food and, above all, the diet that was beginning to assert itself, even if at the time was for the "snob" and, as far as sweeteners for diabetics.

When the Japanese decided to expand in the West founded the Deutsche Ajinomoto in Hamburg, with the aim of studying the European market and, simultaneously, to offer their products.

The largest German pharmaceutical and chemical industries did not trust the Japanese because these, when you had to offer joint-venture partnerships or ask for self-preservation were presented with nothing, except the usual explanatory brochures and trade. France, foreign investors, allowed a 49% ownership. Britain had a chemical giant, for its part, tried to penetrate the Japanese market and already had evidently collided with our Japanese friends.

The only Italian chemical giant was the ANIC, but at the time, I regret to say, had just died, Eng. Enrico Mattei, and there were wise and experienced leaders, and perhaps, as always happened to me later, really thought, in consonance with the name, the type Ajinomoto Honda motorcycles produced. And, in fact, the Japanese sent to IRI, of course, assured her that was not interested. Someone Ministry of State Holdings, fortunately, did not want to miss the chance and sent the Japanese to the new entity recently established, EFIM.

President of EFIM was the lawyer. Pietro Sette, Bari and the Moro faithful, who received just the Japanese, flanked by another Bari, Eng-Musaio Somma, President of several companies and on the other INSUD Group. They must have had flair, have been dazzled by the visit to Japan at the headquarters of Ajinomoto, anything short will have you convinced than others "boyars" of the PS, because it was immediately agreed to build a new factory for the production of monosodium glutamate in Puglia and, more specifically, in the electoral college of Moro, with equal participation of INSUD.

really thought of putting it in the industrial area of \u200b\u200bBari, where, according to the schedules of EFIM, were set up new chemical and, above all, it was building Breda, the Center for Research in Pure and Applied Chemistry and pharmaceuticals, but the Japanese, with their friendly and unwavering kindness, chose, always in every way in the College of Moro, the virgin land of Manfredonia, of course, for one, for them, good reason: they wanted to keep it away from prying eyes or curious more or less disinterested.

remained something, however, the land of Bari, because all Japanese know the word "sciamanìnn (s)" means only that in the dialect of Bari "let's go", but is also used to mean "go ahead! Let's start! "And, apparently, was the last word uttered by Eng. Musaio-sum at the end of the negotiation and, as such, worthy of going down in history.

They had meaning and understanding with this as a word of Italian, even if the wrong accent and said "shamans", but used it at the end of a meeting, as a business card with the Italians to make nice, just that now I could understand, Puglia, but not our northern chemicals, which they joke about it, having even played in Japan and it happens only after many difficulties due to the presence among them of a parent-Bari origins.





Preliminaries
pacts para-social life of the new company expects that the technical and production was the exclusive field of the Japanese who had the knowledge and, above all, it held the patent for industrial manage and secure , covering it very jealously.

Our graduates in chemistry, all people of quality, highly trained and experienced, they told me that in Japan, were able to ascertain that the protection the trade secret and patent issues took on even manic and paranoid, especially when viewed with our Western mentality.

The product chosen to put one foot in the West was in fact the MSG obtained organically from the fermentation of beet molasses, and that glutamate was present, and commonly used in the kitchens on the tables and East for over a hundred years.

All food and food substances generally contain glutamic acid in the form of glutamine, substances that are "typical" of each food that determine the flavor and vitamin content. MSG is a sodium salt glutamic acid which, when added to food, it melts immediately "free" glutamic acid because it "attracted" to say, from those typical of glutamine and its the same food, with which it appears to increase the flavor and nutritional value remains " free "sodium, but since this is in all foods or we add sodium chloride or table salt, is this with his" cousin "natural.

After each explanation, by any person who was, of course, expert in the field, all ended.

- "In any case it is good for the brain. No! It's not that makes it more intelligent or more stupid! And 'that reinforces the cerebral cortex. This means that prevents or makes more difficult the degeneration of tissues in the cerebral cortex, for any cause or accident, "- Periodically, over some magazine articles that appeared to be preached on the harmful effects of glutamate, known as" additive "food," discovered "by analyzing food which had been added.

Chemists I explained that it was almost impossible to detect glutamate when added to a food in the right dose, for the simple reason that the compound, not an "additive" but simply an "exciting" flavor, and soon vanished, with hot foods, in a moment, and left no trace except in an increase of glutamine and thus nutrient own food, in practice, it was like saying that "this food is more nutritious and tasty than normal, then there must have been added glutamate.

The food additive, however, was often used by the food industry was the "sodium cyclamate, a synthetic chemical that is produced in the laboratory and then, of which at the time was not yet evaluated the toxicity, but it was completely different, completely different, and then was strictly forbidden.

Glutamate is calculated as a natural process which "Fermentation", the same age-old process by which turns the grapes into wine, caused by bacteria known fact contained in the skin or stalks. The secret of the Japanese was just that "bacteria" used for the fermentation of molasses and secret was its composition and its nature.

Simply put, this bacterium, placed in molasses sugar, with just the right temperature and studied, and dosed with the addition of compressed air, the absorption and ate it, reproducing down to "consume" all the nutrient , transforming it into a completely different substance, until the mixture come to a desired saturation, was stop the fermentation and, through various stages and with suitable chemicals, the product obtained is purified and crystallized as a salt which was then bagged and packaged.

I was the unwitting witness the arrival in Italy, in Rome, the first strain of bacteria, brought as accompanied luggage "in an insulated bag to travel from one director to visit the new Japanese plant nearing completion. The arrival in Rome of this administrator's parent company, created great excitement among the Japanese, since the days before his arrival, requiring the presence of chemicals already transferred to Manfredonia.

And indeed, the import of live bacteria had to be strictly forbidden, or at least, before accepting the entry into Italy, had to be examined and assessed the dangers posed: just what the Japanese wanted to avoid. In truth the background of this input the sensed rather than heard, the sound of laughter and raised in Japan when the few present at the administrator's account, for reasons of rank, the reference to the other. In short, had "cracked" the Italian customs officers by stating that it was diet food which, given his advanced age, could not completely quit during his brief stay in Italy.

The factory Instead, the bacteria were kept in a special sterile room built in the factory and laboratory, in this sterile room, nobody was allowed to enter unless a couple of chemists in Japan. The room had four sterile walls of glass. As soon as we entered the chemist, the first gesture was to lower the blinds to not show what he was doing outside.



Returning to the story of para-social agreements, after the exclusive part of the technical production of the factory, in some respects, was understandable, the other exclusive jurisdiction of the Japanese was the commercial side, sales. This, too, in a sense, could be considered understandable knowing that the Japanese knew all of the glutamate market in Europe.

from Hamburg, via a real service of industrial espionage in Europe, knew the quantities produced by other producers, the quantities sold to major customers, and even the amount that would have produced the country's annual sugar beet.

In fact, the leading European producers of sugar who were the same, however, glutamate obtained from the leftovers of sugar production, but glutamate was a poor quality and low performance, while 50% pure, that of our factory was 99 +% pure, high-performance, which meant a use of lower doses and with more results.

But before we, as unclean was the only known and used by large food manufacturers to produce, in essence, the stock cube or for the few, very few indeed, "ready meals" pre-cooked offered at the time.

With the use of glutamate Manfredonia, the largest manufacturers of stock cubes changed their advertising, now small and smelly stock cube was used and recommended for "seasoning" roast and other dishes cooked by good cook: it is the nut that "flavor" of food but the glutamate content in the nut, in fact, the pack it began to write "" on the basis of monosodium glutamate ".

Some factory in northern Italy, with a bold and aggressive sales policy, began to increase the range of their productions, especially if intended for food service and catering, introducing the main courses cooked and packaged, flavored and enhanced in own flavor by glutamate.

In truth, the main problem in the manufacture of ready meals was the use of appropriate chemical additives intended to preserve and stabilize the mixture, additives, however, reduced or altered the taste of food: the addition of monosodium glutamate allowed just to enhance the flavor of the product, despite the presence of chemical additives.

The first establishment of our major clients were the Star and Knorr, who were convinced, however, only after long and persistent negotiations and trials. But the loss of these two major customers, we created enemies among the other manufacturers who then, as demonstrated below, the Judiciary, although other issues, have a true "sign", also in Europe, handling everything the sugar market, from beets to the finished product, and were, in Italy, the famous "three-M", ie the group Monte, Montesi and the Maraldi, which together accounted for about 85 percent of the Italian sugar market.

But the market for sugar beet molasses and we will talk about that later. Returning to the para-social pacts, the only aspect of Italian exclusivity, and thus of INSUD, were responsible for accounting, administrative, this is because our administrators can control the illusion of life through economic control of corporate management. But more about that later.





Prof. Madam President. After

Musaio-Sum, was, as President, Prof. Mario Lady, who, I seem to recall, was lecturer in industrial chemistry, however was a Resistance fighter and, as such, a personal friend of Eng. Mattei's ENI and put him to the presidency of various group companies. Later, with the passage of Terni EFIM Chemistry, also became part of this last group, in addition to being President and Director in various other companies scattered throughout Campania and north Italy.

With great charisma and innate sympathy, as well as industry expertise, immediately entered the hearts of the Company's employees and trade unionists, and not exclude direct contact with the same union and the workers, but always with due respect for respective roles, that under of its refinement, in name and fact.

He called himself a champion and supporter of the Italians in the south, he Lombard true, often saying that we were smarter than us Southerners and Northerners of awake, there were only the opportunities and occasions. In this respect, we could not agree with him, kicking and elbowing us that we had to rise to the highest step in the company organization, always ready to listen and Rivera, however, without servility or licking that he hated.

So if, at that end of the year 1976, the President complained that we did not understand anything about the corporate situation, if you wondered how our trade unionists had been made continue to protest, or otherwise, to make their presence felt, meant that, according to his vision of the thing, and that adverse events approached, however, were expected dark time for our company and its employees.

The most recent incident occurred in the life of the company was leaving the corporate structure of INSUD, and so consequently, the output of the Company from the State Holdings to become in effect a private company to complete foreign capital. In truth, the Internal Committee of the union had been informed of this movement but was also reassured that, for employees, no would change. After the release of

INSUD in October of 1976, they returned to Manfredonia two former employees laid off years before, namely a former Managing Director, the Rag. Fraser, former Head of Purchasing, Mr. Hood.

The Rag. Fraser was presented as a management consultant with the Company's place of work at our sales office in Milan, this, obviously, not to create or not to bring out better for me that I was friction with the chief executive officer at the factory and the other clerks while Dr. Hood was introduced as the new Director of the Italian establishment, which parallels the previous Chief Japanese, however, retained only the delegation of signature corporate and legal representation.

In conclusion, this New Year of 1976-1977 was not the most peaceful for me and my colleague Tavano.





The INSUD

EFIM The third was the state organization for "as the acronym, the financing of the manufacturing industries. In truth, while IRI predominated DC, the PSI and the PRI to ENI, the EFIM was to be the stronghold of the Social Democrats, to reconstruct the four-party power.

He worked mainly at the beginning to "save" the political will for those industries now "Ailing" scattered "rain" a bit 'all over Italy, who were not able to either ENI or IRI. In fact, his first "gift" was the acquisition of the Company for the extraction and exploitation of aluminum from Sardinia, an outstanding company with a significant number of employees and spent much historical significance: it amounted to a good budget initial for the new body.

To the north, the main and most important undertaking was the EFIM Breda which was broken up, the more economically viable activities were incorporated IRA (such as firearms and Breda Oto Melara), because additional other activities of the group, all others (eg. Fucine Breda train) were noted by the Financial Ernesto Breda managed and controlled, along with other food industries, mechanical, textile and other business was, in turn, properties of EFIM.

the center Italy, in the "wallet" EFIM, then there was the Terni Industrie Chimiche, already abandoned by ENI, but powerfully knocked the Terni steel industry, industrial and financial crisis, which would be the natural destination IRI group had more steel in the portfolio, but who obviously had his reasons for refusing it. To the south there

INSUD already a financial participation Isveimer the institution of the "famous" Case for the South. The EFIM entered as a minority shareholder of INSUD but, little by little, by dint of cover the losses, it became the main shareholder and manager.

INSUD This, in addition to financing new industrial ventures, had also "in the portfolio" property of a plethora of small and medium industries located in the Mezzogiorno, all well and funded largely by the "Cashier" el'ISVEIMER but then, not to see them bankrupt, were acquired and restored, even financially, and then offered on the market to other local investors more or less, when there were.

The Directors of our Company was a matter of INSUD EFIM and that it reserved the selection and appointment of a Managing Director and also had its own officials in the Board of Auditors. I think I did rather a good impression to the mayors of the company when they came to one of the usual ritual visits, and wanted to check the box and the values \u200b\u200bas required and prescribed by the Italian Civil Code.

Although young, I was not entirely a novice, having also had experience working in my previous visits of mayors, even though they were small local cooperatives, yet I was fully aware of the functions of the Board. However, I was irreverent, like all young people, and made me laugh a lot excitement of my first Chief Accountant of the visit, and his nervousness when the President of Mayors would be alone with me to check the amounts of cash.

The visit went well and received moderate praise from the President of Mayors, dr. Anthony Zurzolo. Only after I realized and understood the nervousness of the Chief Accountant, when I learned that Dr. Zurzolo was the Director General of EFIM.

The first Managing Director, what I assumed, proved useful for relations with the town of Manfredonia and all other institutions necessary for a number of permits for construction, but with little operational experience in the factory.

It was then immediately called at the headquarters of EFIM to continue the work for other companies and was replaced by Chief Operating Officer, expert accounting and administration of the factory but, more importantly, good management of human resources. In his first year of work in Manfredonia, director taught this young and cute, we all administrative, how to work as a team, identification of business purposes, modern detection systems of expenditure and cost containment.

We lived at a critical moment in the management of labor relations between 1967 and 1969, he taught us that, in its dealings with employees, you would first all to be honest and strict, but not arrogant. He managed to convince the Japanese to recognize the employees and workers with the categories and wage levels under the employment contract. Unfortunately, this

Director, Dr. Roberto Italy, Roman, after a couple of years, viral hepatitis and was taken outside the factory for more than six months, without, however, that the work in the office I was suffering, because now the "team" was ready to work and formed. In any case, after recovery, he was a few months and was immediately attracted to other larger companies, leaving a deep regret for his talent and his innate sympathy.

was replaced by Rag. Fraser, another expert administrative, almost sixty, who remained for a longer time but, after the dismissal, he returned as a "consultant" in 1976 that "fateful." Between '73 and '74, the Rag. Fraser was replaced by Dr. Cipriani, for his experience, also joined the Board of Directors representing precisely INSUD shareholder, but it deserves a separate chapter.

Courtesy of Rag. Michele Brunetti

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prodrome in Manfredonia - Early History of Ajinomoto-


The Chief Executive Officer in August 1965 when I joined the company, the first official native of Manfredonia, the construction of construction work was well under way and began to order the first machines and the first plants. It so happened that I went into business with a conspicuous bandage on his right hand, to be slipped in the hallway of his father's house, beating his hand against the glass of a picture that gave me several stitches.

the morning of Monday, August 2 was accepted by my boss from my accountant and administrative manager, however, he left that day for Manfredonia to perfect the practice in the Harbour for the coastal state concession of deposit of the harbor.

The next day, the chief accountant gave me the cash, stating that the next day left for the holidays. On Wednesday I was the only This clerk and received, as a cashier, the request for an advance for travel expenses by the head of the chemical. As per the instructions received, I made a check for one million lire, the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro and carried the signature of the CEO, Dr. Fukazawa.

They told me that this administration came from the diplomatic service and, ultimately, was commercial attache at the Japanese embassy in Paris. It was a very kind gentleman by the way, how and most of the other Japanese, and lived in Europe for over twenty years. He was surprised and amazed by my request and, before signing, I asked about my injury and then asked me, always in English, call the Director of Administration:

- 'E' in Manfredonia, Dr. Fukazawa, "- replied.

- "Oh yes! I remember! Let me then be the chief accounting officer. "-

-" No sir, he went on vacation. "-

He was surprised and looked at me in silence. Then he looked at the cards that I had led to the signing, which, in addition to, the included payment orders handwritten by me, his hand bandaged, for payments from me and that he was willing to permit. And he asked:

- 'Who's going then to the bank to change my check? "-

-' I'll go!" - I said sure: - "Yesterday I was introduced to the Cashier of the Bank!" -

But obviously that was not his concern. I went to the bank, but before I entered the bar to get a coffee, then prelevai the money and went back to the office. Returning, I saw her at the entrance to the office boy, slightly older than me, I was recommended to take control of its ease of ambush and pursue their own business.

I put everything in place and to make a gesture of courtesy, I went in person to the money to Dr. Giavelli, the head of the chemical, which I very much appreciate the gesture and stayed for a while 'to speak, of course, of my injury and Manfredonia.

In the hallway, I saw instead the messenger, rather hotly and sweating, looking at me with eyes wide in surprise. Later in my office, I found standing in the middle of the room Dr. Fukazawa waiting for me and asked me

- 'It was fine in the bank? "-

-" Yes Sir, of course! (Yes sir, of course!) "-

Only after a few minutes, thinking it over, I thought there was something strange.

The office was at the center of Rome, Via Bissolati, the street where were the offices of almost all international airlines and certainly the most important. Our office was on the first block to Via Nazionale, while the other extreme, to Via Veneto, the third and last block, almost opposite the U.S. Embassy, \u200b\u200bwas the building of the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro. Just in front of a secondary entrance to the BNL, on Via San Basilio, behind the main entrance of Via Veneto, there was the bar where I had coffee.

There was a great bar just below our office in Via Bissolati, was an American Bar, in the sense that you could eat a steak or a pasta dish, and here in the morning, before eight-thirty, I breakfast with cappuccino and cornetto, but the preferred mid-morning coffee take it to another bar, because, as I did immediately notice a more senior colleague, in quell'American Bar, after the third hour, the cups we could find traces of lipstick of all nations and continents of the world, and was true.

When the interval for lunch, I asked the messenger because he came out after me, told me that instead of immediately after I was released on Dr. Fukazawa, not before he asked me in an agitated, so that the same boy, worried, thought I had forgotten something that I was bringing back the same director, chasing each other.

In practice, I learned that I had followed Fukazawa at a distance, while I was in the bank entered the back door, I was released immediately after the gate side of Via Bissolati to return to the office, leaving Fukazawa Via San Basilio to spy on and wait. When I saw perhaps more in the bank went to the cashier to ask for news, coming soon after.

- "When I saw him get out," - continued the boy, - "I started running and I shortly before. And he said to me: Accountant? And I, in his office! Then, instead, I saw you reach the other side, on the other aisle, "-

I tried to find an explanation for everything that I heard: I told him that perhaps he had doubts about My ability to be able to withdraw money from the bank, as, indeed, had spoken at the signing of the check, perhaps because he happened to encounter difficulties in the bank.

Instead I had the distinct feeling that he had thought that I could escape with the cash: I own that in my previous job, I often handled more than one million lire. The verification of my first wages received in Rome, where he loses any of my month, could also be justified mistrust of the Administrator. In any case, there was certainly some distrust of the Italians, but even these, the Italians were not free from faults and prejudices towards the Japanese.





















The technical staff

The Chinese calendar: I knew there but I had never had occasion to make her acquaintance. I heard about for the first time on the evening of 5 January of 1966, discovering that he had a series of twelve, in the sense that, for twelve years, every year was represented by an animal, the thirteenth year they repeated the performance again as the first.

That evening of January 5, 1966, the eve of a holiday, I was in a private room of the restaurant Sistina, in Via Sistina in Rome, opposite the legendary Temple Theatre and musical show of light and the Italian company's award-winning fitness Garinei & Giovannini and all the other most famous actors and writers of the show more or less light Italian.

at restaurant tables twenty diners, Italian and Japanese mixed, and I was practically one of the last, having been allocated seats in strict compliance of the corporate organization hierarchy, so, my neighbor across was the young designer while, on my left, was my only fellow peers, took less than a month and, before him, was the usher.

A capo tavola, quindi dall’altra parte rispetto al mio posto, sedeva l’anfitrione, l’Amministratore Delegato della nostra Società, il dott. Fukazawa di nazionalità giapponese e di religione buddista.

E fu appunto l’Amministratore Delegato che, prima di iniziare la cena, volle motivare quella serata ricordandoci che, in quel nuovo anno appena iniziato, il nostro Stabilimento di Manfredonia sarebbe stato ultimato entrando in produzione, voleva augurare quindi buon lavoro a noi dipendenti e, soprattutto, una lunga e ricca vita alla nostra Società, sottolineando a questo punto che tutti gli auspici erano favorevoli in quanto, fra pochi giorni, sarebbe iniziato il nuovo anno cinese rappresentato from the "horse", that noble animal gallops and runs and, therefore, would also gallop at our plant, our Company with all its employees.

The construction of the plant was organized and conducted by Japan. All technical drawings arrived from Japan in fact, even if not made directly to the Office, but the homes of Japanese engineers, such as personal effects shipped from one individual to another. This system, which was only predicted by Italian engineers, I had a way of ascertaining when I was then made to share my room with the Japanese engineers, this was not taken until the other reason and, with the Chief Accountant, we could together to create a "department".

But as long as I remained the youngest and the last arrived, I was the first to move to each new arrival, until I settled into the large room of the Japanese, and I had the opportunity to study them and their way of thinking, and even more so when Dr. Yamada arrived in Rome, the only "consultant" administrative.

was a law graduate, who was also a little older than me, and was determined to learn Italian, so we made a pact, he spoke Italian to me and I had to correct any errors and I spoke with him in English, with the same duty for him. To increase the opportunities for "study" evidently, he began to come with us, in the range meridian, to eat in the cafeteria of the nearby Ministry of Agriculture, at least until his family arrived in Rome. Even then he returned to Italy in that fateful year 1976.

In fact, the number of employees varied continuously for new hires and transfers to Manfredonia after the period, more or less short, education in Rome.

For each team of Italians, there was a corresponding team of Japanese. In hierarchical order, after Fukazawa, was the engineer Saito, head of the Japanese construction and chemical chief of industrial production, dr. Komori. The two leaders had to employ teams of Japanese engineers and chemists who performed the work material, the number varies widely.

Against these, there was a group of Italian chemists, led by Dr. Giavelli, from the Swiss Squibb, but from a factory in France, where he met his wife whom he married in a hurry, a few days before going in Japan.

Return of the chemical laboratory there was Dr. Cantarella, Turin by Schiaparelli, then there was Dr. Giappicucci, Roman, who toured the world, and Dr. Fontana bolognese. All these chemicals were very good and very experienced, especially the first three. The last of the chemical was Dr. Giorgio Gilli, born in Trentino, but the son of Bari spouses, young and just graduated.

The other technical staff involved in the construction that was headed by Eng. Ciceri, Milan, clever and experienced, always distracted or lost in thought, very tall and walk lopsided.

The staff of the engineer. Ciceri, all very experienced people, was largely already working at the shipyard in Manfredonia, such as the geom. Caponi, Bari, which virtually all parts built in masonry. There was a good mechanical engineer and a musician Milan Marche tire, it was looking for an electronic instrument.

are instead fixed in Rome the two drafters, a young and very old one. In fact, the Japanese designs were redesigned for the Italian engineers, reviewed by Japanese technicians, approved by Eng. Saito, and thus, signed by Eng. Ciceri. Chemical plants were under the same procedure. The technical came from Japan, translated into English by Japanese engineers, chemists, and retranslated into Italian by Italian technicians.

It lay then the supply order in Italian, however, before it is sent, it was translated into English by the Italians, then by Japanese engineers in Japan, approved by Eng. Saito and signed by Dr. Giavelli or Eng. Ciceri, as well as by the Administrator with value Fukazawa financial commitment. You miss a step when Dr. Komori, the chemist, went to Manfredonia to follow the activity.

However, before leaving, Komori had a long talk with me, just because I was the only local indigenous Manfredonia. He inquired about local customs, the names of doctors, the pediatricians best, restaurants, mechanical repairs on cars, on pharmacies and major shops, taking due note of everything. This is because, towards the end of August, led to Manfredonia wife and daughters.

All orders and contracts for the supply of materials and work were compiled by the Purchasing, Eng. Porcelli, a senior and experienced senior, with long militancy in Breda, flanked by a lawyer from Bari.

All Italian chemists, who had been about a month in Japan for an internship at the parent plants, they treated the corresponding Japanese chemical with respect and sympathy, even though between them they speak against dicendone fever and horns. The other Italian engineers dealt with the Japanese and someone with enough curiosity. Since the company

orbit of state participation was agreed, of course, that the supplies and works were entrusted to the extent possible, other parastatal companies, with preference for Bari and south. This is also the consideration that the contribution to the grant paid by the Fund for the South for new investments in the South, was more for purchases from companies in the South and, similarly, financing loans.

All construction works were entrusted to the Company and masonry "Giovannini & Micheli," introduced at all parastatal companies, electrical equipment to the "energy", based in Bari, a company that had absorbed various other small southern firms.

Two engineers of this society, the energy exactly, were called to discuss their drawings with the engineer. Saito Ing. Ciceri, in my presence, since I shared a room with Saito and two other Japanese engineers.

In practice, Saito had found many things wrong in the wiring diagrams and drawings prepared. He had discussed, as usual animated, with Cicero that he had referred to the energy and that had challenged the findings because unjustified.

When were the two young engineers, they sat down in front of Saito with a lot of self-importance and sufficiency. After the first preamble, Saito took the picture and began to do it on their desk and, with a red marker, began to score with big strokes, bad points, like a teacher who corrects the work of students.

Engineers Energies of the first reacted timidly, then began to protest, saying he followed the directives and instructions received from our supply order, but when Ciceri invited them to review the order, confessed to not having brought with them, demonstrating the lack of preparation or the lack of importance given to the meeting. Ciceri took his copy for me to bother to copy to the two engineers, and Saito put out their own copy in Japanese.

In the end, despite not understanding what they said, being strictly technical terms, with Cicero in speaking English and Italian Saito with two guests, I gathered that they had really wrong, proving that he has performed with great accuracy the their work, thereby underestimating the clients and, most importantly, they did not understand the meaning of many technical solutions chosen or requested only by the Japanese, solutions in Italy, at the time were unknown or not applicable, deemed unnecessary or unnecessarily expensive. In practice, before a technical solution for their new or just unknown, had ignored its own or adopting one known to them, assuming that the Japanese were wrong.

few months later, in Manfredonia, I had become a friend of the foreman of Energy Bari, who directed the work, and I could not help but tell him the scene I had witnessed.

From him I had confirmation that the two engineers of Energy had not understood a thing, that the Company had signed a supply contract on the basis of drawings prepared by the two but, when they were rebuilt and adjusted according to the exact interpretation of the requirements, it turned out that the agreed price was abnormally low and not very profitable , and the two were fired.

same attitude I saw in the technical sufficiency of a great and historic Genoese steel company, Ansaldo, which had been ordered two stainless steel fermenters, that is where the huge tanks for fermentation of molasses, the first and most delicate phase of the process. In this case they were older and were discussed in advance and no drawings.

Here, at the very beginning, it happened that one of the engineers remarked that perhaps there had been a mistake, as was predicted some kind of special stainless steel for bolts and nuts, while it was common knowledge that in fact no one had ever used bolts of such material. At the insistence of Saito, one of the engineers turned in Milan in Cicero:

- 'Go! Do not waste time! I convinced her that these types of bolts do not exist in Europe, let alone if you have them! "-

-" Gentlemen! "- Ciceri said: -" If they have provided, it means that "they" have them and use them too! "-

Saito was a true Samurai and had more than forty years. The Samurai, they explained, was the hereditary chief of a great and noble family and, therefore, in addition to technical subjects of his faculties, he had a reigning prince type education, humanistic education that is Eastern Europe, the Japanese martial arts, use of ancient weapons and technical studies at top universities, with Master and Stage at major University of California, USA.

He was tall and massive, with great big head, so that, seeing him from afar, one would have thought it was a "little guy" like his compatriots, his gait reminded me of the typical one seen in the film, with low waist under the belly and light step, almost on tiptoe. He spoke in an English office and primary rough, with his guttural voice, and understand Italian well enough, even if it gave to see and do not ever spoke.

This is to explain that she understood the call of Italian and, in fact, left a curt order in Japanese to his collaborator, who immediately went out and returned after a quarter of an hour with a telex and one of their usual sheets of rice paper on which they wrote by hand, was a list of all the factories that produced the bolts in that special kind of steel, in Europe there were two Swedes, two Germans and one Italian, and six in Japan in Singapore.

Reports working between Ciceri and Saito were very stormy and animated, and I was, in spite of myself, a witness. I had seen so much discussion and bickering, but I understood that, after all, an estimated one another. Naturally, disagreements arose about the different views about the technical solutions to take and the price to be paid to suppliers, and always took place in English, both obviously mastered.

If the subject was chemical, then alongside Dr. Giavelli Ciceri intervened and, with him, Saito was less impetuous and had a conversation on a more quiet and subdued.

One of these three discussions was particularly long and complex, dragging for several days. When the two spoke to each other Italians, who would often converse in French, perhaps because they knew that Saito did not understand, but once, instead of talking about technical terms, rather salacious Giavelli made a comment about Saito.

I had my head on my work, but I understood the comment, and I had an involuntary smile shot and then, alarmed, I lifted my head and looked at first and then Giavelli Saito: Saito was looking at me with eyes smart, Giavelli looked first at him then at me, alarmed . From that day our two technicians did not use more French, but spoke in German, a language of which hardly knew the meaning of a dozen words, or a language for me really tricky and quite incomprehensible: from Bergamo.







The production process in the production of glutamate, the Japanese had, as already mentioned, an experience more than a century and, as a system, they used to record and preserve the history all accidents and incidents that had occurred and met during the production process of every type and genre.

Their technicians before being hired, the company did an internship and had to memorize all of the problems with all of its remedies and the solutions adopted and practiced, and showed how many more episodes to know, were more likely to be engaged and used on the production departments. In the offices

Romans as normal working hours, we had a lunch break for more than two hours, just enough for those who came to eat at home, but too long for me to eat at the table of the Ministry of Agriculture , fifty yards from the office, and that in about half an hour, I had finished all that well.

There was always some fellow coaching staff made me company at the table, while the oldest of the artists remained in office with a sandwich, and then happened very often that you return to the office well before the scheduled time, remaining at large in the chat room of designers, among others the only one with windows on the Via Bissolati.

It was in these talks with senior designer with colleagues and technicians who learned all the more interesting aspects and details of the establishment and production. Indeed, not to disprove an afternoon dr. Fukazawa, before the work, he surprised me and talk to the designer before the design techniques of the process, and turned with a smile, a polite and gentle reminder to the elderly artist and to me to ignore and forget all that c ' we were told, as it is reserved.

Among other things I immediately jumped in the eyes of the strange name given to the various production departments: they left from, "H2", per andare poi a “H4”, “H5” e “H6”, saltando il numero uno e il numero tre. Appresi che l’H1 sarebbe stato il reparto per ottenere la melassa di barbabietola ma, la cosa più interessante, il reparto H3 poteva essere il reparto più importante dello stabilimento in quanto, con l’utilizzo di una parte della sostanza fermentata, vi si poteva produrre molti tipi di aminoacidi e in quantità industriali.

I reparti H2 e H5 formavano un unico blocco, avendo vari piani di lavoro in comune tra loro, anche se ben separati. Nello stesso blocco, al piano terra, c’era il reparto H6, dove si insaccava e confezionava il prodotto che, attraversando una cancellata, veniva stowed in the warehouse. The department H4, perhaps more than any other big three put together, was blocking him and separated.

I mean, in practice, that the factory was built with a modular structure in that it had enough space to build the famous department "H3" missing from the source and provided the opportunity to double the existing plants, even for the so-called utilities , ie compressed air, steam boilers and electricity.

The only structure that, even to the untrained eye, was proof of "largheggiare" as space and dimension, was the chemical laboratory, and then ready for any expansion project. In fact, the whole process Industrial production was repeated on a reduced scale, in the halls of the chemical laboratory from where it started, in fact, the entire production process.

After a few years since the beginning of the production, talking to an Italian chemist who worked in the lab, told me that he had started as an experiment, in agreement with the Japanese chemical, a kind of department H3, in order to quantify reduced scale, the product that could be achieved in any industrial processing.

He showed me a glass container, containing a couple of gallons, a fine powder and white, saying that it had obtained from the fermented material which normally was thrown in the sewer, an amino acid that the dust was in great demand by pharmaceutical companies that paid the price of 40,000 lire (the seventies) per gram, and he was produced in a few days in my spare time, more than two pounds.

Dr. Cantarella was a chemist of wide experience and documented, and was destined to become the Head of the Laboratory. When he was transferred from Rome to Manfredonia, was soon to look for asking for information. We agreed to go along with car Manfredonia a Saturday, and moved with his wife in a hotel, and I to bring home the dirty clothes to wash, saving the cost of the train.

I got to know him and his wife, having confirmed that Turin was a true gentleman and courteous manners purposes, not expert in car trips, so that, he said, "would also miss a turn in" Sahara. " I do not know what happened in his few months of work in Manfredonia, I only know that even before the plant for industrial production, Mr. Cantarella he returned, insalutato host its Turin and its Schiaparelli, gathering laurels successes, as I learn, later, by the press.

Almost all Japanese, and at this stage before moving to Manfredonia, came to me for advice on village life at Manfredonia, making me the usual questions about hotels and restaurants, or the doctors or the mechanical per auto. Ci fu uno solo, il Dr. Okada, un chimico piccoletto e sempre sorridente, che venne con una agenda multilingue, comprata in cartoleria, e mi chiese notizie e spiegazioni su tutte le festività italiane, ovvero le numerose giornate in cui, all’epoca, normalmente non si lavorava.

Ad ogni mia spiegazione, lui annotava con una matita a mina Pilot, naturalmente in giapponese, ciò che gli dicevo sulla pagina dell’agenda del giorno in questione. Poi rileggeva quanto scritto e ripeteva: - «A-scen-sio-ne, ne-skà? Ah so de-skà!» - e restava per un lungo minuto in silenzio.

Avevo iniziato a spiegare dettagliatamente le ragioni della festività, poi, specialmente per le religiose, mi trovai in difficoltà, perché, per esempio, tra Pasqua, Ascensione e Corpus Domini, il festeggiato era sempre lo stesso e lui mi chiese: - «Ancora per Gesù?» - e sorrideva scuotendo la testa.

Stesso commento per le festività della Madonna, finché arrivammo all’8 dicembre, che io non nominai ma che lui lesse distintamente e poi mi formulò la temuta domanda:

- «Che significa Imma-co-la-ta Con-ce-zione?» -

Ci pensai bene prima di rispondere e, infine, con un po’ d’inglese e un po’ di italiano, cercai di spiegargli il Dogma della Vergine e Madre.

Ci pensò sopra per parecchi minuti, guardando alternativamente me agenda, then looking at me straight in the eye: - "Do you know it's impossible? Ne-ska? (You know that is impossible? Is not it?) "-


Courtesy of Rag. Michele Brunetti

White Things In The Clitoris

Insud Manfredonia - The launch of Ajinomoto-Insud

Workers

In the first half of May 1966, ended my stay in Rome and was transferred to Manfredonia, preparing for the removal of the rest of the employees who was then in early June. The factory was the Director, Eng. Raffetto, Milan, which had already begun talks for the selection and recruitment of workers.

Soon after my appointment, in Rome, I had received in his hands, with the task of classifying and sorting the mountain of applications for recruitment of my countrymen who aspired to a job in what was the first industry installatasi in Manfredonia, and many were my friends or just acquaintances.

With the new year approaching and the start of production, many of those who first aspired to be hired as employees, remade the application to enter as workers, and many hide the possession of a high school diploma.

Dr. Cantarella, head of the Chemical Laboratory, told me that in his opinion, the best worker assigned to the Laboratory would be an "almost" graduated, since they would not have found the experts "Chemical analyst" in the area but would have had to train with in-house training. In fact, the first of the Laboratory were hired young graduates who, for purposes of employment, had hidden the diploma.

In mid-June was taken up the bulk of the workforce, and each had its own destination, assigned by the Director, assisted by various department heads, the Italian chemical industry. I must confess that the choice of director was very careful and reasoned, even though they often had to listen to the "reports" of the various authorities.

Most of the workers was, of course, originally from Manfredonia or resident there, but there were also from Monte Sant'Angelo, Mattinata, Foggia San Giovanni Rotondo and indeed many of the maintenance engineers were Foggia.

groped wanted to give the beginning of the "advice" to the director, but he stopped me right away, inviting me to stay in my place. Only after having observed the delivery, it was he himself who, in some cases, I asked for opinions on some people, but by asking the specific questions to which I answer with confidence, and without comments are not required.

applications for employment were much more than a thousand, two hundred of them were hired who, immediately, acquired eight hundred enemies, frustrated and unfulfilled, which stood at the window ready to denigrate the assumptions, the factory, work and who knows what else, in what motivated and encouraged by those who were many and continued to do their old job, in black.

All the workers were hired and classified in the fifth level, the lowest of the employment contract, receiving a salary of just over forty thousand pounds a month, but most remained, with the hope that, sooner or later, the level would be improved.

were recruited for the production departments, construction workers, craftsmen ex, a former industrial workers returned from northern Italy or Germany. One of the first made by man was a tailor, well known in that country, of course, had closed up shop and had enrolled unemployed Office Distribution: This caused the closure of so many other tailors in the country.

They left the place immediately, taking leave, those who could not accept such a miserable salary, or because they engaged in debt or mortgage loans to purchase the house, and resumed to emigrate to Germany, or because they had other outlets more profitable, even precarious, and that was the case with the auxiliary marine fisheries that occasionally earned much more in black, a couple returned to board merchant ships, and were graduates of the Institute Boat, in my opinion, between the Institutes Technicians, for the subjects studied, it is one that trains technicians di più alto profilo.

Per le officine e i servizi tecnici di fabbrica, furono assunti meccanici ed ex artigiani, ma la ricerca fu ardua per l’assunzione dei tecnici patentati per la conduzione delle caldaie a vapore, non perché non si trovassero, ma perché non accettavano il salario loro offerto, per cui si andò alla vera trattativa, offrendo categoria superiore e superminimi. Stessa cosa per qualcuno dei meccanici o degli elettricisti più esperti.

Il primo e più anziano dei fuochisti patentati era anche colui che riuscì ad avere il salario più alto e la terza categoria, e tutti n’erano a conoscenza. Sarà stato per questo motivo che una notte, agli inizi dell’attività, was asked for his intervention in case of emergency: caustic soda in pumping from the tank to the department, it was realized that the pipe had a leak and spilled some on the ground.

had not been created yet the manager on duty, but in any case, it was its duty to intervene, would have to wake up to their supervisor who, in turn, would have had to wake the person responsible for maintenance, which should have been a wake team of workers for the emergency but the latter, the rest were all foreigners. But he wanted to prove that the local workforce was at the height of any situation.

was a fireman who, until then, had much sailed on merchant ships in around the world. He put together a team of emergency and put on the waxed the fire, put himself under the big jet of a hose that was raining on his head, the broad-brimmed hat, a fireman, and with glasses and welder, put a " piece "temporary pipe without interrupting the flow of caustic soda in the supply pipe.

the morning, all of them, Italian and Japanese, learned of the thing, and great was the general astonishment. The Director, however, sent for him later on, there was talk about everything and then: - "For the success of the intervention, not having to stop production, you expect praise. Since, however, was not his task and he risked his own safety, I am forced to impose a reprimand and a warning not to repeat such a thing more. "-

-" Director, "- said the stoker: -" I could not pull back! I had to show us what we're made Siponto! "-

-" For first spoke to the Managing Director! As a man and as a coach, I must just say: BRAVO! "-

The fireman called Candido Collicelli and was an upright person, generous, affectionate as well as being the father of many children.

But there were also negative aspects. One morning I was called by the Director to show him some documents, but first asked me to Wait until you sign some papers, inviting me to sit. At one point he laughed uproariously at his usual, commenting: - "... orca! They were made out in three months! "- I asked what it was and he explained: -" They ask me to buy a new set of wrenches for the workshop. You know what that means? That in three months of starting, all the keys are gone, if they are taken and take home! "-

course I felt very humiliated and regretted it, although, like all the other leaders and higher often forgot that I was a native. But then, of course, reading it in my face feel, continued explaining:

- 'Look, this is normal, that happens in all the factories! On the other hand, we can put a controller, but how much does it cost? You know better than me how much an employee, certainly more than a million pounds, how much they cost four sets of keys in a year! Without saying that then it will be a controller of the controller, and so on. After all, sooner or later, the phenomenon is reduced and will be exhausted, though never entirely: the complete set of keys at home or in the workshop, no? Mica can eat them?! "-

Japanese.

not moved to Manfredonia Dr. Fukazawa, who was at the Office Rome with Yamada at least another year before being replaced by a new CEO, also Japanese.

production began, with the inevitable hitches and the inevitable mistakes. Each production department had its head, one of the good Italian chemists, supported by the "consultant" Japanese, one or more than one, an expert working. Then there were the Deputy, at least two for the department, recruited from among graduates in Agriculture, Practical Organic Chemistry.

Unfortunately none of the land surveyors had to Manfredonia, but came from the surrounding countries, and found themselves in close contact with certain other qualified workers. The workforce was divided into groups and, each department, there were shifts that covered all 24 hours of the day, including Sundays.

Italian chemists carrying out their work during daylight hours and, after ten hours, they returned to their homes. Japanese chemists who assist them were also sixteen or eighteen hours a day, alone or with other colleagues. The colony of Japanese engineers in this period had increased to about a dozen technicians, including the chief chemical and the latter gave orders, in principle, only of his own assistants, but often violent ways and rather unusual for the Italian situation.

At this point, perhaps, I should point it was understood the business organization giapponese. Il giapponese, per natura e per educazione, aveva il massimo rispetto per le gerarchie e per i superiori, ma era, più che un rispetto, quasi una venerazione, prova ne sia la serie di inchini che, per consuetudine, variavano a seconda il diverso grado gerarchico tra le persone che s’incontravano: più profondo e insistito se il superiore fosse uno o più gradini più in alto dell’altro.

Il lavoratore giapponese, una volta assunto da un datore di lavoro, era sicuro che ci avrebbe lavorato insieme per tutta la vita, sempre che si fosse comportato in maniera da soddisfare le richieste e le esigenze del lavoro. Il datore di lavoro, per togliere dalla mente del lavoratore ogni eventuale “distrazione” that could affect performance, it is directly concerned with the health of the employee and his family, education and study, even of the same employee if they showed to be particularly inclined, and his old age.

A sad fate awaits the official kicked off with demerit: hardly have found someone willing to hire him and he would have had to settle for menial tasks and despised by all, or become a beggar, or worse, a criminal.

If the company launched out, the employee was happy because, in addition to consolidate their work, could hope that some day, if he deserved, he could enter the same holding his son, this is because, in any case, Japanese society was above all "merit" but also "paternalistic."

And just as a "pater familias", severe and inflexible, it involved the "boss" at any level, rewarding good and punishing the bad guys. As a union, not even the shadow.

Among the chemicals that were in our "parent" the Japanese had made quite a stir to see that, before starting their work day, the Japanese worker, along with all their colleagues, following orders of a speaker and close to their jobs, make some brief exercises gymnastic and then, always together, we sang the hymn of the company in which he thanked "the good lord" or his good manager for the gratification of the job.

Among our workers, however, made quite a stir in the treatment suffered by a deputy of chemicals more good and nice, tall and athletic when he was reprimanded by his department head, Dr. Okada, little and minute, in a loud voice and with the index finger pointing up to the diaphragm of the victim, pushed him in small steps and small tapping should up to a corner of the ward where he continued to suffer, attention, naming and tapping, bowing and thanking.

Most Japanese engineers, vice chemicals, were young and unmarried men with a university degree and, as planned, would have remained in Manfredonia a couple of years before returning home. They lived in groups and were working in factories, sometimes with only one machine group, so that when one of them, for reasons of service, was forced to stay in the factory, all the others stayed behind and tried to help him hurry.

Regarding the inclusion of the Japanese community in the village, there were no problems of this kind, for the simple reason that the Japanese were doing in their community life and, compared to the surrounding environment, they had no other contact except with shopkeepers and restaurateurs. In

Indeed, there was a beginning of integration as long as he remained in Manfredonia Dr. Komori, and his two teenage daughters and wife in Japan, was a teacher in secondary schools. Mother and daughters participated in the 1966 Carnival parade, wearing their rich robes and colorful Japanese, and were very successful, but it was the only chance.

Indeed, with the ease of children in overcoming all the barriers, the Japanese girls Komori had contacts with some contemporaries of the great building in which they lived, and I discovered when, after persistent requests, I visited the house and Komori's family with my girlfriend. However, I must confess

that what m'impressionò more, apart from the warmth and courtesy, was to see beautifully sharp in the exhibition, on a long low cabinet, many statues side by side, from lowest to highest in the center, then continues, on the other hand, always to the lowest: in the middle there was the dark statue of St. Anthony of Padua, flanked by plaster reproduction of Michelangelo's David and the alabaster statue of the Archangel Michael at Monte Sant'Angelo Then the puppets of the Nativity, with St. Joseph and the shepherds, and various other figures, all in a curious mixture of sacred and profane.





The Italians.

The direct counterparts in the Japanese engineers were the deputy head of Italian, land surveyors who also acted as head round, all foreigners and all shared the general prejudice of our "neighbors and fellow countrymen: that the" Manfredonia "in general , has little desire to work.

In truth, this injury is the result of the assumption, yes exactly, that the "Manfredonia" especially like to have fun, but not necessarily, at work, they are all "lazy". In practice, wrong approach, went the wrong way in the management of the working group: some of the Italian deputy chief believed that their task was simply to denounce the most reckless. The department heads

Italian organized working groups of workers and establish their shifts. They were all already experienced and had already covered in other industries, the roles assigned to them, all except the youngest, Dr. Gilli, just graduated with honors, which was the first head of the department "H2", that which would begin production by fermentation.

fact, the type of work was "continuous duty" and "process", as in almost every chemical in the sense that the work begun in the first division and then move to the next, until al reparto finale di confezionamento.

La materia prima era immessa in uno dei fermentatori, un serbatoio gigantesco in acciaio inossidabile, e qui era inoculata la “coltura” dei “batteri”, con aria compressa e con qualche sostanza organica che aiutava il batterio a nutrirsi, il tutto sotto stretto controllo e con continui prelievi per analizzarne l’andamento.

La durata della fermentazione era più o meno prevedibile, ma dipendeva da molteplici fattori come la temperatura esterna, la consistenza zuccherina della materia prima e forse da qualcos’altro che non ho mai saputo.

Naturalmente i giapponesi erano esperti in quel tipo di fermentazione, mentre gli italiani erano alle prime weapons, so that once at the beginning, it happened that at the time to stop the fermentation so complete, and pass the matter to the next bay, the technicians were present only Japanese and the Italians, their arrival in the morning, they found everything already Indeed, imagine how much satisfaction with, and this created the first overt disagreements between Italian and Japanese.

The justification was that, having arrived at that point in the process, there was the chance to wait and delay the processing operations, otherwise damage to the substance, resulting in overflow of sewage and all significant financial loss, in addition to lack of production. But the Italians scolded

the Japanese non-cooperation in the planning: knowing more or less time, were expected to find, even at night. Moreover, all we knew why they chose Dr. Gilli as head H2, was the youngest, least experienced and the most gentle and polite, not "sgam" like the others who protested and pointed her feet to get more respect .

With disagreements between chemical Italian and Japanese, were created among the workers the "parties" favorable to one of the few, and the Italians, the majority, which appears to result in the production. The Director, Eng. Raffetto, tried to act as peacemaker between the two factions explaining com'entrambi were useful and essential to the factory.

Unfortunately, precisely in these situations was "an accident". It seems that a land surveyors, a deputy department head, using methods little urban, but only a voice, urging one of the workers to perform a certain task and these, rather than do so immediately, a formal request to linger over, all under the eyes of a "consultant" Japanese, knowing the task at hand, exasperated, upset intervened by grabbing and pulling the arm the reluctant worker, causing him to fall, or knock against something metal, giving him a slight wound and contusion.

broke out a case diplomatico internazionale, con implicazioni sindacali e patriottici, naturalmente alimentato e fomentato dai chimici italiani. La Commissione Interna, come all’epoca si chiamava la rappresentanza sindacale interna, chiese al Direttore le spiegazioni e l’allontanamento del “colpevole”, giacché non “sapeva” come si gestisce il personale in Italia.

Si cominciarono a svelare molti altri scontri o diatribe, più o meno ravvicinati, avvenuti prima dell’incidente; si misero nel mirino anche quei Periti agrari che si comportavano da “aguzzini” o spie; si venne a sapere che spesso a sera, dopo cena, molti dei giovani tecnici giapponesi ritornavano in fabbrica quasi ubriachi. Si vennero to know even the reasons for the abandonment of Mr. Cantarella that, as a true gentleman, when he realized that it would be only half a Laboratory Head, without controversy, preferring to return to his Schiaparelli. The Directorate

Italian, in the persons of the engineer. Raffetto, Eng. Ciceri and Managing Director, stepped in to pacify the spirits and were able to make Japanese friends to understand that in Italy, the "top" can not use your hands (and fortunately there was still the Workers' Statute).

It was agreed however that the Japanese would have been reduced as staff numbers and that would be chosen only technical regularly married, meanwhile, after a few days of "suspension", the chemical culprit of the revolution returned to the factory, but soon his work in the laboratory, before returning to Japan.

Chemists Italian retired on the Aventine, all compact and united, led, of course, Dr. Giavelli. I think there was some negotiation, but the result, however, was that in a short time and fired Giavelli Giappicucci, immediately followed by Eng. Ciceri and this, in any case, it was a great loss to the factory, given the power of people. He

Dr. Fontana, not for acceptance of its position by half, but for genuine and serious grounds of family prevented him from moving. Dr. Gilli remained in a way that seemed to accept his position as head of the department halved H2, where the little raging his Japanese counterpart, Dr. Okada, destined soon to reap the fruits of his victory, becoming the head of Japanese technical staff, replacing the first Dr. Komori, the head of production, and then the engineer. Saito, head of the entire Japanese team, returned to Japan. Dr. Okada also returned to Italy in 1976.

After a few months, Gilli resigned to go to Brazil, Dr. Giavelli reaching there. For his farewell, he wanted to leave a "gift" to Mr. Okada, but it was a drop in style for that nice and handsome young man.

Dr. Fontana was "posted" at the Research Institute of Bari Breda Here he continued, and deepened, his personal research on wastewater treatment systems, exploiting the acquired in our factory, and after a few months , returned to his Bologna and set up before an industrial consulting firm, on its own disposal systems and sewage treatment, then patenting a real technical system.

effects "accident", and all that followed, felt and long-term and, in my opinion, then radically changed the whole attitude of Japanese towards the Italians. If any of our "guests" could have had the idea to integrate further into the city or to work after the "incident" had to change his mind and preferred to remain at his post.

Courtesy of Rag. Michele Brunetti

Breast Milk Milena Velba

History Manfredonia - Exterior

the country.

Manfredonia, therefore, was preferred by the Japanese just because a virgin desert, industrially speaking, out of any other district. Dr. Fukazawa told me that he liked the place from the beginning, he liked the country and its people, and he liked the city administration.

was then Mayor Dr. Nicola Ferrara, Democrat, who had done nothing for them to arrive, but he did much to keep them. To work, any industry needs, as well as land, electricity and water, plenty of water, but especially at the time of many, many permits and authorizations issued by many authorities, and each "instructed" a practice "as hoc" who needed stimulus and counter to advance.

Fortunately, all these tasks if the n'occupò colleague Dr. Nevio Russian, very good and competent, Foggia and brother of Hon. Vincenzo Russo. With his expertise and skill, after you have completed all practices for our plant in Manfredonia, was named by IRI to achieve the Alfasud factory in Pomigliano d'Arco.

Nevio Russo moved to IRI on its own, but after a few years, there was a genuine mass exodus EFIM IRI, following the appointment Att. Seven President exactly IRI, which also took with him Dr. Zurzolo, who, first as Director, he later became President of IRI in turn. In his duties

Russo was accompanied and assisted by our Managing Director, Dr. Calabro, from the Manetti & Roberts of Florence, a former navy officer who had made his own military service at the great palace of the Navy in Rome on the Tiber.

And in fact, aroused a lot of wonder, between employees and officials of the Port of Manfredonia, the immediacy with which Rome, by the Ministry, came to authorize the installation of the deposit on the coastal port, so that, for throughout the period in which the same officer was on duty, every year when I went to renew the state concession, always welcomed me with great cordiality and respect.

For his part, Mayor Ferrara sets very well the practical settlement of the first industry of Manfredonia, obtained immediately resolutions and approvals of the City Council and all of our Company, the directors and were thrilled that the work of our mayor had made with his work, died very short period between the design and start work.

His show of genius, then, was to be anticipated by the Company Ajinomoto-INSUD the cost of high-voltage line ENEL, out of the town, committing the same contract with the City of Manfredonia the return of the expenditure, not just received state funding.

As for water for industrial use, was drawn from tanks filled with the Consortium of Reclamation, the former Salty Lake, and a source of Siponto.

remember that, according to Rome, I had the opportunity to study a large map of the table and Gargano, indicating all sources and surface water and groundwater, even with an indication of areas or less seismic and curves of the altitude above sea level, there were then highlighted all the currents of the Gulf of Manfredonia and the depths of the sea.

The designer kept the elderly, disabled in war, but the former paratrooper of the Folgore and former military intelligence agent during the war, remarked that it was a military map, not readily available, and that he must not show it around too much . When

came the furniture and records from Rome to Manfredonia, I noticed the scroll of the map between the bundle of rolled drawings transported from one of the porters, and pulled away immediately, hiding it in a safe place.

After some time, I was called by the Director in his office, where he entertained visitors with a group of strangers, and asked me if I knew where it ended up that map that was in Rome, and I pulled it to him down from his cabinet and show to visitors.

Out of curiosity I stayed at the meeting and learned that they were the technicians of the BP & D Vicenza, who had to design a large petrochemical plant in the area and, given the presence of water in tanks filled on the road to Zapponeta, deduced that the best place would be precisely in the area of \u200b\u200bthe tanks (formerly Lake sauce), but that's another story.

The presence of a veritable industry in Manfredonia, the first, and for the first few years the only, in its essence was not perceived by the indigenous inhabitants, although it is truly a jewel of technology, the masons who were working there, I remember did not understand the need to create a "cage" concrete "bound" in his columns for the foundation, even in the underground part, under the floor, set time for technical compliance with the law for seismic safety, but this was already in 1965.

After all, the industrial company, was part of a culture completely divorced from the territory. Take for example the local banks, relations with whom I lived directly and personally.

There were now in the country a national bank, Banco di Napoli, elephantine public institution and patronage, which, at the local level, turned his attention to agricultural credit and land, as well as serving with Treasury local authorities and the other was a local bank rather important, the Cassa di Risparmio di Puglia, which turned to trade, crafts and, therefore, the discount and collection of bills and legs.

Our Company almeno agli inizi, aveva pochi soldi da depositare nei conti bancari, ma chiedeva servizi e, quindi, dava lavoro di ogni tipo agli sportelli, naturalmente ben remunerati.

Il nostro prodotto era venduto nell’Italia del Nord e, per la maggior parte, all’estero, e nessuna delle due banche, almeno nelle figure dei funzionari responsabili, mostrava di essere interessata in queste operazioni.

A quei tempi, versare in conto per l’incasso un assegno bancario fuori piazza, era un’operazione che qualsiasi banca perfezionava in oltre un mese, se andava bene, e qualsiasi funzionario, per accogliere il servizio, doveva fornirsi di “carte” e garanzie sulla solvibilità del traente, questo even if our customers were the Star and Knorr, with a check the amount at the time was a figure equal to the cost of two apartments.

Our bank drafts for collection, then little known in the area, were honored more and better than a bill from any of our client companies and north of the debtor, but for officials of the country were more or less "paper Waste ", imagine if accepted for the discount.

Issue a Model A-export of goods for sale to a foreign customer, it was an new and unknown to many bank officials, for which, to be completed, at best, requires at least ten days. Each operation

foreign sales could be funded with an "anticipation export" rate much easier, for which there was no need to "educate" a practice of overdraft, according to the classical system of trust, but, being an operation called "documentary credit", it was like a medal of merit that the bank testified against the Bank of Italy and the ICE, but only put in anguish the official naming of Manfredonia. So much so that we were first forced, then he coaxed from the main banks of Foggia and Bari

Competition between banks was made with the offer rates, for active customers, inviting and black, that is, cash in and out of the account: there was a rate, charged in bank statements, and a "more" part, paid in cash annually.

was a common practice and generally applied, of course, against the "best" customers, at least until the introduction of tax reform since 1974: first, the interest would have been subject to pay-up tax (the income tax of then), but there was cross-checked the statements by banks and as reported by the receiver, so it was a reliable choice to the "good heart" of the taxpayer.

Our Company, like all, but all the other Italian companies of the time, the interest income used to create the so-called "funds blacks", useful for "kickbacks and bribes.

Well, at least in the beginning, we were "good" customers for banks Bari and Foggia, Manfredonia discrete customers. And we learned so much from the young employees Dr. Roberto Italy, in the short period that remained with us, before and after viral hepatitis. He "negotiated" with the banks, in the sense that "dictate" the rules applicable to our current accounts, so check the Star there was accredited with currency three working days, the A / Export, already signed by the Bank, was in our drawer and was compiled by us as soon as the load of the TIR German or Dutch with our product, and on certain days of shooting aliens could be there more than one.

There was nothing illegal, indeed it was a practice commonly applied throughout Europe, not to wait for the truck driver, not to go back and forth to the bank officer or director: the signing of the Bank was used to ensure that the export was genuine and real, not fake, and that the agreed price was right and profitable, and the latter test was clearly outside the scope of an official bank.

Only a few years later, when the Bank of Italy began to spread their banking transactions on the printout for each province or territory, we saw reach officials of the two local banks, accompanied by in-chief at Foggia, "to beg" more working at their desks, but had already changed the time.

Many misunderstandings we had with the local drivers. Most of our product, as mentioned earlier, was sold abroad in northern Europe and traveled with the trucks foreigners who come to Italy to download, discharges or returning from Greece or Turkey, and went to the north with our product, with costs paid by the consignee, the same route for trucks Star and Knorr.

But it happened often enough that they need to hire several trucks for northern Italy, for example, to Trieste, where he completed the loading of a train, leaving from Trieste, continued its journey to Eastern Europe.

There could be no contract of "exclusive" with local carriers, but the contacts were quite frequent, because many local tanker, coming from the establishment of the center north, were used by our suppliers to come and download from our establishment. The reports, however, began with mutual satisfaction. When

work began to become more interesting, our drivers, associated with each other, they began to increase their demands, while our purchasing department began to seek discounts.

Perhaps there was a certain arrogance on the part of local carriers that tried to "force" the decisions of our leaders, the fact remains that the relationship ceased almost completely, using as intermediary agencies which provide for the "full return" at very reasonable prices, the "owners" to the north, the south came to download.

One of my co-workers, office worker shipments, which then had constant contact with drivers, but that was the last link in the chain making, one morning he found all four tires of his car cut with a knife. Similar

opinionated approach came with the small local suppliers, craftsmen and retailers, it seemed that everyone was convinced that "had" a kind of difference in pay more for the "privilege" of being "housed" in Manfredonia.

Our Purchasing Department had price lists of all the material we needed, when small amounts were addressed to local suppliers, was applied to discover that these excessive and unjustified mark-ups. The craftsmen had

tops estimates and standard. When the Purchasing Department called them and discussed extending the same estimate in an analytical and precise, then clashed on the profit margin to be applied.

As member of the "fauna" local, tried to explain to my neighbors that we were in a market economy, that there were merchants and craftsmen in the surrounding areas who were content to earn less, but not everyone understood.





The "competitors"

The raw material for glutamate was beet molasses, which is the first work of the factory, so it was produced by three major industry groups, our great enemy, succeed not only refused, but hindered all our contacts with other European manufacturers, because, as I was able to verify, industrial espionage was not a prerogative of our Japanese friends, but of all large industrial groups.

The European Common Market "rewarded" the exporters of raw materials and thus also of sugary substances, so that, as producers and exporters to collect these "prizes", our competitors preferred to "export" the beet molasses, instead of sell it in Italy.

There was in Europe a sort of international association of sugar producers and all related equipment, the stated purpose of encouraging meetings between the "supply and demand," was actually a true "sign" that decides the price of raw materials sector and ensure that members should implement the agreed price.

Annually, at the appropriate time for the "campaign" sales, the producers met in a European site by default, such as Monte Carlo in Monaco, or Rotterdam, or Zurich, and here were held "meetings" between (the few) and sellers (the few) buyers with the system of "open auction", ie, including prohibitions and exclusions, the seller, the buyer could choose to your liking, even refusing customers with the striped tie or almond-shaped eyes, immediately imitated by other fellow producers.

The Japanese, after the first time they were marginalized, being empty-handed, soon found the system to circumvent the prohibitions. The purchase of molasses for our factory was then made by a businessman greek, a financier who, in his country, Igoumenitsa, was the holder of a license for the production of sugar but, in my opinion, did not have a grinder produce it.

He bought his own name, but not only on behalf of our Japanese, even for others. It had to be a known person in the environment, so much so that our Japanese friends, always beware of trust, granted him ample credit available in advance and put the sums in dollars to participate in the auctions.

He trusted the Japanese, even then, on time, on the eve of the race, we phoned to ask for confirmation of credit, the amount, the issuing bank and the receiver.

win him lots of raw material, and only after the purchase, the home of learned or acquired. So was the case, and there was the case from the port of Ravenna left a Greek ship loaded with molasses. While browsing in the Adriatic TRAVEL DOCUMENTS to Marseilles, where, in Customs, the goods were "nationalized" as French and deducted from the total amount specified in the original import permit.

greek arrival at the port of Igoumenitsa, the ship found the documentation in order to "nationalize" in Greece the same goods from France, but soon after, he went on, without downloading, for the port of Manfredonia, where he was finally "nationalized" and discharged into our coastal warehouse.

The European Market "reward" then the Italian manufacturer, the French exporter and the greek, all for the same goods never left the Adriatic.

Once that occurred, while "our" ship was unloading molasses in the tanks at the port of Manfredonia, at sea, at anchor, there is another ship that was waiting for their turn to "load" the beet molasses produced by one of the many factories in the province of Foggia and for who knows where.

course, our competitors, after the first cases, tried to create other obstacles, but they could not fight the ineffable greek businessman who, at other times, it was extended even to their service. If necessary, in some cases, our greek friend was using "third-party agents" in front, to compensate for what we asked, all'apercredito in addition, a substantial "bribe" of dollars in cash, and here our very useful "funds blacks."

may at this point begs the question - "Why not buy directly from producers Foggia molasses?" - The question is easy, the answer not, as a technical characteristic of molasses foggiano that required further work that are unable to explain. The owners of the factories

Foggia were always the same at the national level and at the beginning, we also provide small quantities of molasses, but "our" glutamate cut the legs of the market "their" product and, as the market pulled and there was work for all, tolerated our presence, but once the system went to the factory, the total annual production created a surplus of supply in Europe and created a veritable war of resistance .

Yet the core business of sugar was not glutamate, but keep in mind that, for sugar, had a highly seasonal work, while the glutamate could keep the workers engaged for an indefinite period even during the dead that the raw material should not but they had to buy it at home, in short, that the proceeds of glutamate was all just "fruit".

Then, I'm used to that think ill consider that, while sugar, the whole production process was controlled by the intendant of Finance to make it subject to import duties and taxes provided for the Finance glutamate occurred only on the base used for the production, while the product sugary substance was not finished, so was not subject to duties, and could sell even without an invoice without VAT.

I would not look like a sucker, but I was convinced that after the event that one of two ships simultaneously at the port of Manfredonia for molasses, because then you could justify the involvement of the Judiciary, after some time agreed selling the molasses of the sugar Foggia and Molise.





The Bureaucracy

As state-owned companies, ours was very respectful of the laws and regulations, because there was no "master" that stress differently, and the Japanese themselves, for their mentality, were very respectful of tax laws and tax.

In our contacts with all public employees, had almost become a song to remember that we had no interest in this breach, struggling to overcome the conviction of public servants who "are all evaders, until proven otherwise." Fortunately, there were many officials intelligent understand our philosophy of approach to rules and shared, so that, by auditors, they were very cooperative.

Since the construction of the plant, for example, in the presence of a factory store "dextrose" on sugar, we were subject to the levy and the load, the presence of an officer of the Internal Revenue Foggia that, with the assistance of a graduated of the Guardia di Finanza, by law, had to oversee all the movements of the same substance and check that the registration will happen, by hand, on a large log.

In short, when he realized that nobody had in mind to grasp the dextrose to make cakes or otherwise, gave assistance to the financier and he himself became a clerk at the registration and the first to recommend our "honesty" to their colleagues.

fact, for the TIR customs declaration for use abroad, it was necessary that these trucks, after loading, were accompanied to Customs, at the center of the country, monitored here, and "sealed" receive "papers" to the border and then returned to our factory to pick up the other bank records and accounting for the recipient.

With the recommendation of our officers, the documents were sent to customs, stamped and signed, and returned, together with a staff financed, in our factory where the financier and controlling the load and then swooped in Customs was taken back, while the shooting straight into to your destination.

This was possible because the customs officials were convinced that they could rely on the accuracy of our maps, that described the amount was correct, that the price was the true one and that did not load any other product in addition to the written and Therefore, a possible border control would be spun smoothly and regularly.

accordance with general principles, but not expressed risaputi for coexistence and cooperation with the Government Offices and supervisory bodies, as our Company with a transparent accounting, also known as "corruption" was clear: the "cake" Christmas there was a regular turnover of the indication of the name and address of the recipient, so many officials there "begged" to be exempt from the gift.

to Customs, however, not being a product of our broad and common use, was for a "package" containing writing paper, stationery and miscellaneous office supplies, which make up the shortcomings of state provision. The Carabinieri was given the luminous and made available to our photocopier.





Industrial Relations

I like to recall that, for the most part, the workers of the plant were hired in full campaign period for local elections, which confirmed the Democrat Mayor Nicola Ferrara, with a consensus around the Party.

After a few months there were factory in the elections for the appointment of the Internal Committee and obtained almost the CGIL a plebiscite is not sectarian, is that I, personally and openly, m'impegnai for the campaign in favor of availing DC the cooperation of employees of the factory fresh, the ones who, once recruited, not only entered the CGIL, and so far I do not see anything wrong; but then founded the first section of the PSIUP Manfredonia, the far left also with respect to PCI, with the back wall a large photograph of Che Guevara, with cigar, beret and red star.

There being, of course, past experience in the industrial area around the role of the union at the factory had to be invented, and there were too many problems if it had not occurred then the famous '68, "revolutionary" for the whole of Europe, 'autumn "hot" in 1969 for us in Italy.

remember that at the beginning, almost all of the workers were classified in the last union level and salary. Which began production, you could not keep the staff at that level, no longer justify it.

began the claims, disputes and strikes, with the Japanese, but also the Italian party leadership, unwilling to give up and recognize progress and grade level to those who "collected from the field or from the road, we've made them become workers industry. I did not like this phrase, but became the dominant motive of union negotiations, aimed at the beginning, the Director Raffetto, but the sentence was not his.

When more or less, the plant went into full production phase of her, strikes causing damage to the economy of manufacture and, fortunately, also changed managerial staff. Raffetto was joined and then, often, even replaced by Managing Director, Mr. Italy who taught us that much, even in the treatment and "respect" other people's work and workers. With

exhausting negotiations, every time, advances were granted class for groups of workers. To their thinking, the Japanese were programmers and computers: speaking of progress, they wanted to first know how much it cost and how much the company would be the total expenditure on concessions to make. And I know this well because, at that time, I was just involved in the calculation of payroll and personnel costs. In any

case, claims he spent the season, spent the 1968 and 1969, remained a national strikes and those for the renewal of employment contract. However, the idea remained in citizenship, which in our factory is not done nothing but go on strike, as well as the belief took root that our workers do not work, or work a little, that the factory during working hours, Pornographic films are projected onto the wards. They were all fairy tales, or as we would say today, urban legends, it is not inconceivable that had been launched by employees themselves for fun or for spite.

The production process was a continuous cycle for 48 weeks a year and twenty-four hours a day. All employees in production departments were divided into four groups, one of which, every day, it was at rest while the other three covered and completed the work day shifts ranging from 6 to 14, from 14 to 22 and from 22 to six in the morning.

between the two daytime shifts only had a day off, among others, were two rest days. Each turn worked for five consecutive days. In practice, removing six o'clock on Monday morning, was part of the factory at 14 of the following Wednesday, removing the 22 on Thursday, fell to sixth on Saturday, when the five days ended on Friday at 14, fell at 22 on Monday. With

il tempo, i gruppi si consolidarono rimanendo sempre gli stessi, anche se divisi tra reparti di produzione e servizi generali e questa fu una precisa scelta dei tecnici giapponesi, mentre i chimici italiani, pare secondo il comune pensiero, ritenevano che i gruppi dovessero essere mischiati spesso, per evitare che si creassero tra i componenti contrasti e attriti o, peggio, si creassero consorterie tramanti a danno dell'impianto.

Con la fabbrica distante dal paese cinque chilometri, anche se era stato messo a disposizione il mezzo pubblico, si crearono piccoli gruppi che, a turno o condividendo la spesa, preferivano arrivare in fabbrica in auto. Tra i gruppi si crearono nuove amicizie o si consolidarono le vecchie. Si crearono gruppi che, nei turni rest, will compete in soccer games, organized group tours, meetings and similar user-friendly.

course, when these groups were in turn of rest, especially in the morning, remains in committee and met in public places. Those who saw them together, was the idea that "they never work!" But when they saw them on the wards were in service, day and night, Sundays, public holidays, Christmas, New Year and all other parties.

The programming was hard shifts so that the same worker could calculate and predict in advance the turn that would happen at Christmas, six-month wedding anniversary, the birthday son or wife and be able to plan accordingly.

The organization and rigidity in shifts and in groups, in the light of the rediscovery of socialization, it might seem a little success in terms of civil and educational, but it was a great success for the sake of productivity in the factory, built and implemented by staff Japanese. In fact, over time, was born between the groups a kind of competition, a race for productivity, although this could not be calculated in terms of quantity, but solely in terms of absence or reduction of critical moments in the production cycle.

If a group was away, was replaced by the type of group turn off, if the absence is prolonged for several days, were called up all those able to replace it, at all times during their turn of rest.

is still an imbalance is created in the group receiving the various groups that "lending" the substitute, because the two days off were not a "luxury", but really needed to recover from one round to another. If the absence was justified and very occasionally, all lent themselves willy-nilly, to support the extraordinary because, sooner or later, could also happen to be a substitute for having to be replaced.

Try a little 'thinking if the absence had been self-serving: between the many people "uncomfortable" there was always someone who at least grumble or complain about it, and, very often, the substitute was called into service not found at home, did not attend or, in turn, is calling in sick: the complaint was for us that the disease first was false or pretext.

just wait for the second or third absence, and reached the official request to "move" away from the normal group, made the shift manager on behalf of all partners, supported by internal union representative. The recidivist was removed from duty and became a "daily" between the "generic services", with hours from eight to seventeen, losing in busta paga, le relative indennità per turno, lavoro notturno, festivo ecc.

La “mela marcia” veniva rimossa dalle buone: un vero successo!

Questo sistema, però, costringeva a recarsi in fabbrica anche con la febbre? Perché no! Con il gruppo unito, se la persona era notoriamente uno che non dava problemi al gruppo, se un giorno non si sentiva bene, specie di notte quando erano assenti i Capi reparto e restavano solo i Capi Turno, poteva chiedere di essere lasciato libero da impegni pressanti e, almeno per un paio d’ore, se ne restava su di una panca a riposare, mentre gli altri compagni coprivano la sua posizione.

Del resto il ciclo produttivo aveva una durata più or less fixed for each production department and was done so that, in most of their day, was required vigilant attention to the instrumentation and a few direct interventions.

In such cases, that is, travel from the department asked the group, there were several, I think, however, fewer than a dozen, but the group of generic services were also classified those from other services, did not have much desire to work and that in any event, absent or present by the service, they could not bother to others and to work but, for better or worse, carry out a service that otherwise would have been outsourced to third parties, and license was not recommended, because il Sindacato li avrebbe difesi, perché sarebbe iniziata una lunga vertenza di lavoro e, già all’epoca, i Giudici del Lavoro davano sempre ragione al “povero” lavoratore.

Quando qualcuno esterno mi diceva che i dipendenti della nostra Società erano “tutti” fannulloni e scansafatiche, io li invitavo a farmi il nome o, se per omertà tacevano, li citavo io, uno ad uno, facendo appunto l’elenco degli addetti ai servizi generici: - «Ho dimenticato qualcuno? Ne ho contato una diecina! Ma ne lavorano più di duecentotrenta. Sono sempre e solo gli stessi! Come si può dire che sono “tutti” fannulloni?» -

Con il tempo, gli operai diventarono più bravi dei chimici a prevedere la durata del ciclo produttivo da loro stessi seguito e controllato, per cui erano in grado di prevedere i cosiddetti “tempi morti” nei quali potevano anche “distrarsi”, magari facendo una partita a carte, o mangiare “la parmigiana” portata in fabbrica dal collega, la torta del compleanno del figlio, e così via: l’importante era che non si creassero scompensi nel ciclo produttivo!

La Direzione, i Capi Reparto, noi dell’Ufficio del personale, sapevamo sempre tutto e tutti tolleravano questo tipo di andazzo, proprio perché, comunque, non si creava alcun inconveniente nella produzione.

Dirò di più, nella maggior cases, our office staff, we were informed in advance of the "small parties" scheduled, and this because, at the entrance and exit of the factory, there was the "chosen at random," the bell rang at random for the search worker chosen, and we are warned to turn the guardian of all that such workers would bring the factory, but he was not authorized, only an "invitation" to turn a blind eye.

How, for example, was made at the World Cup and European football broadcast on television: to allow the entrance of the television set at the factory, he avoided the dover fronteggiare le numerose assenze, e spesso ero lo stesso Capo reparto, italiano o giapponese, che assisteva agli incontri insieme ai suoi operai.

Questo potrebbe sembrare “accondiscendenza passiva” o, peggio complicità o paternalismo. No: questo ci consentiva di conoscere tutto quello che avveniva in fabbrica, ma soprattutto ci permetteva di “concedere” favori apparentemente gratuiti, ma all’occorrenza, nei momenti critici, sapevamo a chi rivolgerci per chiedere notizie, per dare “consigli” e suggerimenti.

Con il tempo, quando le posizioni chiave della Società furono accentrate nelle mani dei “quadri” locali, eravamo in grado di “affiancare” la Commissione Interna, senza strafare o dare ordini, semplicemente con il colloquio con i “capi”, lasciando “cadere” là i nostri pareri, consigli o suggerimenti.

Qualche volta, uno di questi rappresentanti si metteva in posizione polemica nei confronti della Direzione e non “recepiva” i nostri consigli.

Se lo scontro si faceva particolarmente burrascoso, se i rapporti si fossero ormai compromessi irrimediabilmente, ricorrevamo alla squalifica completa della sua carriera di sindacalista: bastava dargli un avanzamento di livello, oppure assumere uno dei suoi fratelli o famigliari stretti, che perdeva ogni credibilità agli occhi dei suoi compagni e mordente nei confronti della Direzione.

course there was also someone who, while going straight on his way without "listening" to our recommendations for intelligence, honesty and uprightness, was respected by all, even by management, and one of them, Pasquale Lauriola, became Provincial Secretary of the ICFTU also FEDERCHIMICA.

It happened as well, sometimes that some of the most intelligent unionists were questioned by the "base" or someone who wanted to replace it, then we ourselves were to "advise" to be temporarily aside to make way for the new advancing the which, of course, would never have received our advice or our suggestions.

Unfortunately, just at a time like that, while in Internal Committee had received a head, even political, emergent but low specific gravity and unreliable, before it can be challenging, there came the decisive final stages of the life of our factory. And this is my only regret.

Courtesy of Rag. Michele Brunetti