MARCHES and rallies took place across Italy on Thursday and Friday during a nationwide public and private sector general strike organised by trade unions.
Workers were protesting against the rising living costs, job insecurity, and increased military spending with workers and young people calling for an end to the United States and Israeli attacks on Iran, Lebanon and Gaza and the West Bank in Palestine
The biggest demonstrations took place in the capital Rome, the second largest city Milan, Naples, Bologna, Florence, Genoa, Turin, Palermo, and Catania with much of the country grinding to a halt.
The strike was called by several trade unions, including Confederazione Unitaria di Base (CUB), Sindacato Generale di Base (SGB, Sindacato Intercategoriale Cobas (SI COBAS), and the Unione Sindacale Italiana (USI), along with pro-Palestinian organisations in Italy.
The protesters demanded higher wages and pensions, an end to evictions and insecure employment, and opposition to what organisers described as the ‘high cost of living generated by wars’.
The groups also condemned ‘the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian and Lebanese people’ and called on Italy to suspend political and commercial relations with Israel.
Italy’s state railway group, FS, said the strike by rail workers began on Thursday night and continued until Friday evening, affecting train services nationwide.
The CUB said in a statement: ‘This is a particularly critical time; wages have long and increasingly reflected a disconnect from economic reality that can no longer be hidden.
‘The burden that workers, families, young people, women, students, and retirees are experiencing cannot be underestimated.
‘Job insecurity, wages stagnant for thirty years, and Italy at the bottom of the list in Europe, are at the root of the protests that today animated at least fifty squares across Italy, pushing many to choose to stop paying the price firsthand.
‘The government’s decisions, which follow a logic dedicated to increasing investments in weapons and military technology, the rising cost of fuel due to international tensions, first and foremost the conflict in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, impact everyone’s lives.
‘Those paying the greatest consequences are the millions of wage earners who now struggle to cover even the costs of essential goods.’
‘The latest official data shows that 45 per cent of families in Italy cannot afford to pay their rent, the prices of food products have skyrocketed, in line with the increase in the cost of oil and gasoline per barrel, and therefore for truckers, and large-scale retail trade is passing the cost on to the consumer.
‘Many people have given up on seeking treatment due to the endless waiting lists resulting from successive cuts to the National Health System over the years, and the call for the government to choose between allocating additional funds to defence rather than public health and education can no longer be postponed.
‘This deadly chain of events extends far and wide and reaches many people’s homes.
‘Agriculture is also being severely impacted by the rising cost of fertilisers, a large portion of which passes through Hormuz.
‘At the petrol pumps, the worst is yet to be seen, given the forecasts of a further increase in the cost of oil (estimated to reach three euros per litre), and the excise duty cut, which expires on June 6th, will bring further surprises.’
The SGB said: ‘The government, after the defeat in the referendum on justice reform, is trying to get out of its corner, producing a narrative that is anything but realistic, while the working class and the lower classes slide toward the economic and social abyss.
‘The failure and betrayal of the electoral pact by the ruling political forces is clear.
‘Their credibility is now eroded by the evidence of a reality that grants no discounts.
‘Even the narrative of sound finances and high employment rates (which are also declining) is a result, in many cases, ‘inflated’ by precarious jobs and delayed retirement.
‘The Italian government has placed Italy on the wrong side of history, supporting the warmongering adventurism of the United States, which is also staunchly defending its waning economic supremacy and a failed and arrogant policy based solely on military force: see what is happening in Iran, Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine, Cuba, and what has happened in Venezuela.
‘Meloni & Co. are complicit in the ongoing conflicts, both in the Middle East and in Europe, allowing, in addition to death and destruction, to increase poverty and marginalisation among the working classes and workers.
‘It is necessary to recall the Palestinian people’s resistance to the invasion and excessive power exercised by Israel, supinely supported by the US, which no longer hides and pursues the invasion of illegally occupied territories.
‘60 per cent of Gaza is under their control and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s latest statements suggest the desire to reach 70 per cent.
‘This extends to Lebanon where in the south of the country there is now open war, in the logic of a “Greater Israel” with reference to its historical or desired borders (the area internationally recognised as part of the State of Israel together with the Israeli-occupied territories of the Golan Heights, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, up to and including the even larger region extending from the Nile to the Euphrates).
‘Fighting against what is happening in Gaza means fighting against a logic of war and exploitation of the strongest (economically and therefore militarily) over the weakest, with all the consequences highlighted above.’
- Workers across Portugal are holding a general strike on Wednesday 3rd June. The nationwide action will involve multiple trade unions, including in Education health housing local councils airline cabin crew and other transport workers who work on buses and trains.
The strike, called by the CGTP umbrella union, is in opposition to government labour reforms that would ease employee dismissals and lift outsourcing caps.
Over 500 flights are expected to be disrupted, potentially affecting airlines such as Tap Air, easyJet, and Ryanair, according to the SNPVAC cabin crew union.
Public transport, including Lisbon and Porto Metros, will also be impacted as the FECTRANS transport union joins the industrial action.
Ahead of the strike on Friday, workers at Saica PACK in Ovar in the northwest of the country held the first day of six days of action which continued on Saturday and will also take place on Thursday 4th June Saturday 6th June, Wednesday 10th June and Saturday 13th June.
The CGTP (Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses – Intersindical Nacional) Portugal’s largest trade union federation said: ‘At the rally held at the company gate, they expressed their clear dissatisfaction with the company’s position of not implementing a real wage increase to cope with the rising cost of living.
‘They also reinforced the need for recognition of the workers’ seniority.
‘At a time when the cost of living continues to rise brutally, with working families facing enormous difficulties in paying for housing, food, energy, fuel and other essential expenses, the workers of SAICA PACK PORTUGAL S.A. say ENOUGH to the continuous devaluation of their wages and their work.
‘We, the workers, are the ones who guarantee the company’s daily operation, meeting targets, ensuring production, quality and results.
‘We are the ones who, with our effort, sacrifice and dedication, contribute to the growth and stability of the company.
‘And it is precisely for this reason that we demand respect, appreciation and concrete answers to our demands.’
