On Friday, Italy experienced disruptions due to a strike by transport workers and other public employees.
This strike, organized by the country’s major unions, CGIL and UIL, was a response to the government’s proposed budget for 2024.
The unions have initiated a general strike in central Italy and a nationwide walkout for public sector workers, with additional regional protests planned in the coming two weeks.
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who also serves as the transport minister, controversially reduced the duration of the transport workers’ national strike to four hours, from 9 am to 1 pm (0800-1200 GMT). This decision, aimed at minimizing the strike’s impact, did not affect air travel.
CGIL leader Maurizio Landini criticized Salvini’s move in an interview with la Repubblica newspaper, calling it an unprecedented attack on the right to strike in Italy.
Meanwhile, Salvini defended his decision on the Rai’s TG2 news program, stating his commitment to ensuring that most Italians could continue their daily activities.
The striking workers are organizing a rally at Rome‘s Piazza del Popolo to voice their discontent with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government. Union leaders argue that the government is failing to protect workers and retirees from the adverse effects of rising prices.
They also accuse the government, which came to power last October, of favoring its core supporters ahead of the European Parliament elections next June.
Last month, the Italian government approved a budget for the next year, totaling around 24 billion euros ($26 billion) in tax reductions and increased spending. This has raised concerns in the markets about Italy’s already strained public finances.
