Thousands of workers march across Italy in general strike demanding better pay and services
Thousands of teachers, health care workers, trash collectors and others walked off their jobs across Italy on Friday to protest a decline in spending power, persistently low salaries and government policies they say have weakened public services
MILAN — Thousands of teachers, health care workers, trash collectors and others walked off their jobs across Italy on Friday to protest a decline in spending power, persistently low salaries and government policies they say have weakened public services.
Italy’s most powerful trade unions called the eight-hour strike and mobilized marches in cities across the country to target Premier Giorgia Meloni’s latest budget that they say penalizes schools, health care and other services. They also are pressing for a more equitable distribution of profits from private companies to workers.
“These protests don’t just speak to the government,’’ Maurizio Landini, head of the powerful CGIL conglomerate, told reporters in Bologna. “They speak also to entrepreneurs, managers and businesses, who in these years have made profits like never before.”
The strike forced ITA airlines to cancel dozens of domestic and international flights, and hit schools, hospitals and local transport. Unions called for an eight-hour strike but Transport Minister Matteo Salvini imposed an injunction limiting the strike in the transport sector to four hours.
It was the first general strike since last November. Unions faced possible sanctions for involving the health care and justice sectors, which have staged strikes recently. The Italian railway, which also has been the target of recent labor actions, was exempted.
Italy’s health care sector has been suffering staffing shortages that has forced the hiring of nurses
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