Italy Protests Sweep the Country During Nationwide General Strike
Students and workers marched in dozens of cities, from Rome to Genoa. The day was mostly peaceful, but police used water cannon in Turin and Rome.
ROME, Oct 31 – Tens of thousands of people, mostly students and workers, marched across Italy on Friday to demand higher wages and improved public services. They also voiced opposition to the rising cost of living and government plans to increase military spending.
The protests in Italy took place during a 24-hour general strike called by Unione Sindacale di Base, a grassroots trade union. Marches were planned in more than 40 cities, with some reports putting the total number of demonstrations at more than 50.
The strike covered workers in both the public and private sectors and received support from several smaller unions. Truck drivers, taxi drivers, and farmers also took part in some rallies. In Turin, farmers dumped manure on the streets as a form of protest.
Transport workers had also planned to join, but many withdrew after Transport Minister Matteo Salvini threatened the sector with penalties. The union nevertheless urged taxi drivers to strike, despite receiving a similar warning.
The marches followed clashes earlier this month, when protesters fought with police, looted shops, and damaged property, particularly in Milan. This time, the day passed largely peacefully, although tensions rose in several locations.
Officials weren’t taking chances. Security was stepped up around Rome’s Colosseum, the country’s most visited tourist site, and around Milan’s cathedral. Italy’s Interior Ministry said some people were detained before the marches began, as a precaution against violence.
In Turin, police used a water cannon to push back students and left-wing activists who got close to the security lines guarding the prefecture, the local seat of the national government.
In Rome, a large march passed near the Colosseum. Protesters said they planned to set up tents there and stay through the weekend. Some people dragged rubbish bins into the streets and set them on fire, though others quickly put some of the flames out, keen to avoid the kind of violence seen in France.
Later in the evening, a large group in Rome tried to march toward parliament. Police used water cannon to break up the crowd, Italy’s main news agency reported. Eight people were detained after they kept trying to break through police barriers, it said.
In Milan, protesters marched onto the city’s ring road before ending up outside the Politecnico di Milano, a well-known technical university. Some carried flares and set objects on fire.
In Genoa, about 15,000 dockworkers, students and others entered the port. They joined similar protests in Europe and beyond against the use of ports to ship weapons. They also drew attention to the deaths of sailors caught up in conflicts from the Gulf to the Black Sea.
The Genoa dockworkers have been campaigning against what they call the militarization of the port. They aim to block the export of Italian-made weapons to conflict zones, including Israel. Protesters also set flares and tires on fire to block a key junction between the port and the highway, stopping trucks from leaving.
The strike’s demands varied from city to city, reflecting the different concerns of workers, students, and local communities. However, much of the anger was directed at Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her right-wing government, which protesters accused of failing to address low wages, rising living costs, and underfunded public services.
Italy isn’t alone. A wave of protests has spread across Europe in recent weeks, including in France, Spain, Belgium and Albania. Much of the unrest has been driven by anger over the rising cost of living and growing frustration with the state of public services, including health care and schools. In Germany, youth-led rallies are planned in more than 30 cities on Saturday, with organizers expected to call for greater investment in education, affordable housing, and stronger public services.
