The Italian Federation of Metalworkers (Italian: Federazione Impiegati Operai Metallurgici, FIOM) is a trade union representing workers in the metal and engineering industries in Italy. The union was founded at a conference in Livorno, on 16 June 1901. In 1906, it was a founding affiliate of the General Confederation of Labour. Membership grew steadily, and by 1916, it had reached 22,445. In 1919, the union signed an agreement limiting working hours to a maximum of 48 a week. It was banned by the fascist government in 1924. The union was re-established in 1944, and affiliated to the new Italian General Confederation of Labour. By 1946, it had 638,697 members. Although both the social democratic and Christian democratic groups soon split away, by 1949, the union still claimed 609,094 members. By 1998, membership had declined to 365,942. From Wikipedia
