Italy: CGIL leads 1 million in general strike

national | miscellaneous | news report Friday October 18, 2002 20:41 by Trade unionist

Italy: CGIL leads 1 million in general strike

When are our own so-called 'trade unions' going to get up off their big, fat lazy arses and do something like this instead of arranging tokenistic stunts such as Friday, October 4TH?

ROME -- Union officials said more than one million Italians had staged
demonstrations across Italy on Friday as the country's largest union
caused disarray with a one-day strike against the centre-right
government's economic policies.

Workers carrying red flags, blowing whistles and chanting
anti-government slogans took to the streets in 120 towns and cities to
protest against labor reforms which they say undermine workers' rights
and stiff cuts in health and education in the budget.

It was the second general strike in six months and follows dozens of
half- and full-day stoppages across a range of industries this year as
worker anger over Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's policies boils to
the surface.

Air, rail and public transport systems were affected on Friday as an
estimated 250,000 union workers marched through the streets of the
financial capital Milan and similar rallies were held in more than 100
other locations countrywide.

Most schools are closed as are many banks and health services will be
reduced to the essentials.

Many Italians have opted to take a day off as getting to their
workplace
will be nearly impossible because of protest marches, the lack of urban
transport and traffic jams.

The CGIL is angry over the government's plans to amend a section of a
1970 labor law. The government wants to make it easier for firms to
lay
off workers and help the growth of small companies.

The union says the move threatens hundreds of thousands of jobs.

The demonstrations are a major headache for Berlusconi, who has never
forgotten that the last time he was prime minister, in 1994, his
government fell after just seven months shortly after millions took to
the streets to oppose planned pension reforms.

So far this year, official figures show more than 25 million work hours
have been lost to strikes and other stoppages, a near 500 percent
increase on the same period last year.

"We are here today... to continue our fight against this government and
to reaffirm our belief in the need to protect workers' rights, their
salaries and their jobs," said Pierpaolo Leonardi, a CGIL member, as he
marched through central Rome.

"We are demonstrating that we are still alive, that we are fighting,"
said his colleague Vittorio Iori.

Around 35,000 national and international air travellers were affected
as
airline Alitalia cancelled or delayed more than half its scheduled
flights and other carriers were forced to abandon connections into and
out of Italy.

CGIL organised 120 rallies around the country, with the main
demonstration planned for Fiat's northern hometown, Turin.

"We've won the challenge," declared Guglielmo Epifani, the head of the
union, as he addressed tens of thousands of workers in Turin's central
square.

"The strike, which has been adhered to throughout the country, tells us
that we are right."

"This is a great rally and strike. In general, this is an important day
of struggle in relation to current events," said Democrats of the Left
leader Piero Fassino, who is taking part in the biggest rally in the
northern town of Turin, where Fiat is based.

In recent weeks, Italian companies have announced more than 20,000
lay-offs, Fiat alone planning to shed 8,100 workers -- about 20 percent
of its Italian auto workforce.

Workers from the Fiat Arese factory headed up a protest in Milan that
drew some 250,000 demonstrators, according to a CGIL spokeswoman. They
marched under banners reading "United in our struggle".

"We want to defend the automobile industry, it is part of our national
heritage," said Milan union leader Antonio Oanzieri.

Some 85 percent of workers in Milan have joined the strike, according
to
CGIL officials, with the figure reaching 100 percent in some large
private companies such as tyre manufacturer Pirelli.

In Sicily's main city Palermo, meanwhile, wives and companions of 1,800
Fiat workers led a protest march that drew 30,000 people, according to
union estimates.

In Rome, trade unions organized two separate marches that drew 150,000
people, according to a CGIL official.

"I believe [today's] great participation also shows a great demand for
unity. Starting from tomorrow, we must work for trade-union unity,"
Fassino said in Turin.