- Title: ITALY: General strike in Italy against government austerity budget
- Date: 26th June 2010
- Summary: ROME, ITALY (JUNE 25, 2010) (REUTERS) ROME'S MAIN TRAIN AND BUS TERMINAL BUS WITH 'DEPOT' WRITTEN ON FRONT PEOPLE QUEUING FOR BUSES LONG LINES OF PEOPLE WAITING FOR BUSES BUS WITH 'DEPOT' WRITTEN ON FRONT (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) COMMUTER ROSA TINTO, SAYING: 'It's chaos everyday, nothing ever works from the buses to the police.'' PEOPLE READING NEWSPAPERS WHILST WAI
- Embargoed: 11th July 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Italy
- Country: Italy
- Topics: Economic News,Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAC5UHCVE8IZQ2LW91ECQ4NUPOS
- Story Text: Hundreds of thousands of Italians will take to the streets on Friday (June 25) opposed to a government austerity budget they say bleeds workers but spares the rich.
The strike will affect everything from transport to theatres, from farms to factories, as protesters hope to send a clear thumbs down message to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
The country's largest union, the left-leaning CGIL, called the strike to demand that the government re-write the budget to redistribute the cuts more equitably.
The strike hasn't garnered a lot of support from commuters trying to get to work on Friday but many say the transport chaos is pretty much the same every day.
''It's chaos every day, nothing ever works from the buses to the police,'' said frustrated commuter Rosa Tinto.
''It has been badly organised and not allowed us residents to be able to organise ourselves in a better way,'' said student Vanessa Trota.
''The closure of the metro was announced last minute and many people are now waiting for a bus with al ot of patience in the hope that someone will help us,'' she added.
Much of the transport system will be closed only operating for part of the day allowing commuters to get to and from work. But long queues were visible at bus stops as people tried to complete their journey and patience began running out as the day's heat became stronger.
''There are always more and more buses that do not go on strike because clearly you go on strike to attain something and we never seem to attain anything,'' said Maurizio Rinaldi, a disillusioned striking bus driver.
Berlusconi and his centre-right allies will be watching the turnout of the strike carefully. Popular discontent could only worsen his approval rating, which has already hit new lows.
The latest poll, released on June 3, showed his approval ratings slide 5.8 percentage points to 42.5 in June from February. In that poll, about 53 percent of Italians deemed the budget severe and unfair because the sacrifices are unequally distributed. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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