ITALY started a 24-hour nationwide general strike on Friday evening at 9pm.
The nationwide action organised by USI-CIT, Slai-COBAS, CUB, USB, ADL COBAS-CLAP, and the FLC CGIL union, is affecting both the public and private sectors, and has led to delays and cancellations across multiple services.
The strike will go on until 9pm tonight for various sectors, including transportation, education, and healthcare.
This timing is noteworthy as it coincides with International Women’s Day, highlighting the significance of the protest.
Transport services have been hit hard with rail services — including major operators such as Trenitalia, Italo, and Trenord, halting operations.
For rail travel, Trenitalia has confirmed it will operate virtually no trains.
The Italian Ministry of Education has reported full participation in the strike from schools and universities nationwide, and although it takes place after the school day has finished, it will means teachers teachers do not mark any work and that cleaning and preparations for lessons are stopped.
In Italy, some universities hold late classes on a Friday which will not go ahead, and important services like university libraries will be closed.
Healthcare services are already seeing big interruptions, particularly for non-urgent care.
The strike has affected routine procedures, though emergency services maintained minimum operational levels to handle urgent medical needs.
Local public transport, although not part of the main strike, will be affected as many bus drivers have said they will not go into work in solidarity with the general strike.
The general strike reflects deep-seated issues within various labour sectors, echoing the sentiments of many workers who feel their rights and circumstances are not receiving adequate attention from both corporate and governmental bodies. Unions are using this day not only to highlight existing grievances, but also as part of the greater movement advocating for equality, particularly framed within the perspective of International Women’s Day.
- Healthcare workers at more than 200 facilities across Germany were on strike on Thursday, with an estimated 800 workers in Berlin alone participating.
The 24-hour strike came during the second round of contract negotiations between the Verdi trade union and federal and local governments.
The contract covers roughly 2.5 million public workers, including those in healthcare, transportation, and firefighting sectors.
The union is demanding an eight per cent pay raise, increased bonuses, and additional paid vacation.
The third round of negotiations is set to take place in Potsdam, outside Berlin, next week.
As well as big health strikes in the country, Germany’s Deutsche Post said on Thursday it was axing 8,000 jobs.
Deutsche Post has 187,000 employees, and staff representatives said they feared more cuts were to come.
- Denmark’s state-run postal service, PostNord, is to end all letter deliveries at the end of 2025, claiming that a 90 per cent decline in letter volumes since the start of the century.
The decision brings to an end 400 years of the company’s letter service.
Denmark’s 1,500 post boxes will start to disappear from the start of June.
Transport Minister Thomas Danielsen sought to reassure Danes, saying letters would still be sent and received as ‘there is a free market for both letters and parcels’.
Denmark had a universal postal service for 400 years until the end of 2023.
Fifteen hundred workers face losing their jobs, out of a workforce of 4,600.
The decision will affect elderly people most. Although 95 per cent of Danes use the Digital Post service, a reported 271,000 people still rely on physical mail.
Speaking in a press conference for the Danish media Marlene Rishoj Cordes, from Aeldre Sagen (DaneAge) said: ‘There are many who are very dependent on letters being delivered regularly.
These include hospital appointments, vaccinations or decisions regarding home care.
Macron threatens Russia with nuclear deterrent
FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday night that France might extend its nuclear umbrella to other European states to help protect the EU as the United States threatens to decrease military support for the continent and upend the transatlantic alliance.
Macron said he would discuss extending France’s nuclear deterrent to European partners during a televised speech on Wednesday, in which he outlined his proposals to support Ukraine.
He said: ‘I want to believe that the United States will stay by our side, but we have to be prepared for that not to be the case.
‘I have decided to open up the strategic debate on the protection of our allies on the European continent through our nuclear deterrent.’
He added that any decision on nuclear weapons use would remain with the French head of state.
Macron also said that his government sees Russia as a ‘threat’ to his country and Europe, adding: ‘Who can believe that this Russia of today will stop at Ukraine?’
Macron’s remarks came after the United States government cut military aid and intelligence support to Ukraine in its war against Russia.
The French president also suggested that European troops could be deployed to Ukraine to safeguard a potential future peace treaty, although he rejected the idea that European troops would fight on the frontlines in the current conflict.
Talking on a possible peace between Ukraine and Russia, Macron claimed that: ‘Russia can no longer be trusted to keep its word.’
The French government had undermined the previous peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, the Minsk agreement, by using it as a ploy to rearm Ukraine with the intention of eventually restarting the war in Donbass, as admitted by former French president François Hollande.
Macron’s proposal on troops deployment to Ukraine is seen as part of Europe’s larger initiative for rearmament and military expansion.
On Tuesday, European commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a plan for an $840 billion (775 billion euros, £ 651 billion) defence spending increase amid Trump’s repeated push for European countries and other NATO allies to increase their defence spending.
The EU is currently suffering a 3.5 per cent deficit to GDP ratio, which means that increasing defence spending while maintaining welfare spending, social security and migration programmes might prove difficult.
