The Italian general strike

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=285843

The Independent (London), 17 April, 2002

Millions mobilise to reject Berlusconi reforms

By Frances Kennedy in Rome

Italy ground to a halt yesterday as millions of workers protesting against
proposed labour reforms took part in the country's first general strike in
20 years. 

As they strolled past the designer boutiques opposite the Spanish Steps,
22-year-old Marco Cecchi and his father, Ugo, were enjoying their day out in
the capital. 

"I didn't vote for Berlusconi!" read the slogan on Marco's T-shirt. Ugo, a
chemical engineer, was waving his well-worn red union flag with gusto. The
two men from the industrial town of Pomezia were among the millions who took
to the streets to paralyse Italy yesterday with the first general strike in
20 years. 

Air, rail and ferry transport ground to a halt. Schools, banks, courtrooms
and public offices shut their doors and assembly lines at many factories
were deserted as Italy's trade union movement mounted a massive show of
force against the government over labour reforms. Hospitals guaranteed only
emergency service. 

Tens of thousands took part in rallies in Rome and cities across Italy, the
protests seen as a sign of wider dissent at the policies and governing style
of their media mogul Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi.

Families with babies, pensioners, students, professors and blue-collar
workers all turned out to show their dissatisfaction with education reform,
foreign policy and the anomaly of the country's richest businessman also
holding the prime minister's office.

Italy's main newspapers joined the strike and only a few dailies, including
one owned by the Berlusconi family, bucked the ban. Television channels,
including the Prime Minister's three private networks, offered reduced
bulletins without video.

Union officials estimated that their strike call was heeded by some 13
million workers - some 80-90 per cent of salaried employees - though
independent observers say the figure was smaller.

Sergio Cofferati, the leader of the most militant union, CGIL, told a packed
square in Florence that the turnout meant that the "government must now
change its course". He said: "The country has come to a standstill, as if it
was a Sunday. The government must reflect on this and stop being
provocative." 

At the centre of the showdown is a clause, Article 18, in labour
legislation, which guarantees an unfairly sacked worker his job back. The
government wants this "jobs-for-life" clause waived in certain cases. The
clause has become a powerful political symbol and a rallying point for
dissent. 

The row, which has been rumbling since November, turned nasty with last
month's murder of Marco Biagi, an adviser working on the reforms. Ministers
have accused the unions of supporting terrorists.

Recent opinion polls show that even people who voted for the centre-right
coalition disapprove of the government stance on Article 18. Mr Berlusconi
has said he is ready to restart dialogue with the unions as of today but
will not bow to their demands to drop the reforms.


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