Mass strike in Italy in protest of Meloni’s budget policies

According to the report of the international group Tasnim news agency quoting Tagus Shaw newspaper, in Italy, thousands of workers went on strike against the budget law of the right-wing government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Employees of the public sector, railways and local transport companies participated in this strike. and local sources participated in these strikes, and this protest is against the budget law of the far-right government of Prime Minister Georgia Maloney.

On one of the posters in a demonstration at Rome’s Piazza del Popolo was posted, reading “Meloni, the people are hungry.” Demonstrations were also held in other cities such as Genoa and Milan.

This strike was organized by two of the three largest unions in the country, CGIL and UIL. Its slogan was: “Adesu basta”, it is enough now. In addition to local and intercity transportation, strikes also took place in schools, hospitals, and the post office. Taxi drivers also left their cars.

These protests were against the government’s budget bill for next year. Unions accuse Maloney that the planned tax cuts are election gifts for the prime minister to win votes ahead of European elections in 2024 at the expense of workers and pensioners and key areas such as education and health. . The representatives of the employees, among other things, demand more financial relief for the employees of these sectors.

Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who is also the Minister of Transport, by halving the duration of the strike The move from eight hours to four hours to ease railroad woes further angered the unions. CGIL president Maurizio Landini accused him of “attacking the right to strike”.

The public sector has been particularly affected by the industrial action on Friday. There were strikes at schools, the post office and other service providers.

Last month, Maloney presented a budget proposal that included tax cuts. Instead, employee representatives are demanding more investment in areas such as education, health and industry.

In addition to the strikes, several demonstrations have taken place over the past day in various Italian cities. held. Maurizio Landini, head of the trade union federation CGIL, said: “We are coming to the streets to raise wages and oppose a budget that does not stop the extreme impoverishment of workers and pensioners and does not offer a future for young people.

Gorgia Meloni will rule Italy from October 2022 as the first woman to hold the post of Prime Minister. In this government, the post-fascist party of the Italian brothers Meloni rules with the right-wing populist Lega Salvini party, and the Italian conservative Forza party. carry out reforms. He wants to severely limit payments to the unemployed and cut citizenship benefits, similar to those in Germany, in half to 350 euros, time-limited and conditional.

He also wants to strengthen the executive power. Maloney proposed in draft legislation in early November that in future, prime ministers should be directly elected. According to this plan, the strongest candidate on the electoral list should automatically receive this responsibility and his party should win at least 55% of the seats in both houses.

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