ROME (Reuters) – A nationwide strike in Italy on Friday caused the cancellation of flights, bus and metro services, the closure of some schools and reduced medical care, in a protest by two of the country’s largest unions against the government’s budget plans.
CGIL, Italy’s biggest union, opposes planned cuts in spending on social security, public services and investments, while the UIL union wants the budget to improve workers’ safety after a series of workplace accidents.
The strike is a challenge for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s rightist government, which faces a backlash from workers angered by efforts to tighten public spending in order to bring Italy’s finances into line with EU rules.
The protest was not supported by a third large union, the centrist CISL. But the leader of the left-leaning CGIL, Maurizio Landini, told a rally in Bologna that participation in the strike was nevertheless high.
“Squares as full (as this) show that we are on the right track,” he said.
Despite strained public finances, the government last month approved a budget with around 24 billion euros ($25.3 billion) of tax cuts and increased spending, reducing income tax and social contributions for middle- and low-income earners.
Although the strike was initially scheduled to last a full day, Transport Minister Matteo Salvini this week signed an injunction limiting the transport sector to a stoppage of only four hours in order to limit disruption.
Others were allowed to walk out for the full 8-hour working day, while trains and freight services were not involved at all in the strike.
($1 = 0.9483 euros)
(Reporting by Giulia Segreti; Editing by Keith Weir)
