ITALY: Thousands of protesters take to the streets and airport ground staff join a nationwide strike in protest against the government's austerity package

Record ID: 339835

  • Title: ITALY: Thousands of protesters take to the streets and airport ground staff join a nationwide strike in protest against the government's austerity package
  • Date: 7th September 2011
  • Summary: MAN LOOKING AT INFORMATION BOARD SIGNS INDICATING CANCELLED FLIGHT (SOUNDBITE) (English) SCOTTISH TOURIST, DAVID AUSTIN, SAYING: "Strikes have their uses and purpose, I think, for the lower paid people. Its mainly the only way they have of demonstrating their power and to get better pay. I think in a way it is good, but for travellers, for people trying to get around fr
  • Embargoed: 22nd September 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy, Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Economy,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA5CRS0GM84NY2V4YM8VQPYS7XT
  • Story Text: Thousands of people marched across central Rome on Tuesday (September 6) to protest against the austerity package for which the centre-right government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi scrambled to secure parliamentary backing.
    The march was part of the 8-hour national strike called by the CGIL, Italy's largest union, which will disrupt public transport including air traffic, underlining the air of emergency in the euro zone's third largest economy.
    Demonstrations were held in more than 100 Italian cities, union sources said.
    The strike, called to protest the 45.5 billion euro (64.6 billion U.S. Dollars) austerity plan measures, coincides with the opening of a debate in the Senate which the government hopes will see swift approval before the package passes to the lower house.
    Many have condemned the strike saying it is the last thing the country needs as Europe's economies remain unstable.
    "I think the Italian people are deeply asleep. This demonstration wants to wake them up, because our government is dragging us into an abyss," said demonstrator, Eleonora Delfini.
    Italy's European partners have been watching with mounting alarm as government wrangling has overshadowed the package and German Chancellor Angela Merkel told members of her party on Monday (September 5) that the situation in Italy was "extremely fragile."
    "I think this is the first step of a crucial autumn, it is the chance our generation has to fight back after being relegated to the margins of the job market, making us precarious and divided, to an extent that it is now even difficult to gather in the streets, like today," said a young demonstrator, Enrico Dessi.
    Italy has been struggling with rising youth unemployment, and national statistics a few months ago revealed that one in five young Italians, or more than 2 million people, are not studying nor working, the highest percentage of "idle" youths in the European Union.
    Italy has wrestled with sluggish growth and one of the world's highest levels of public debt for years but a modest deficit, high private savings and a conservative banking system had kept it largely on the margins of the crisis until July.
    Berlusconi's government, which until recently boasted repeatedly of keeping Italy out of the crisis, has struggled to build a defence against the market pressure, hampered by deep divisions in its own ranks over tax and pension issues.
    "Today we go on strike, but most of all it is necessary that Italians will do like they did in the past referendum: they shouldn't mind the voices trying to tell them lies and (they should) push for elections as soon as possible," Antonio Di Pietro, leader of opposition party Italy of Values, told Reuters during the protest. "They need to convince our national president (Giorgio Napolitano) to go beyond simple words and really dissolve the parliament. Because he said the measures are bad, he said that there's nothing good in it, so he should act accordingly."
    In a highly unusual statement that highlighted the gravity of the situation following a sharp selloff of Italian bonds on Monday, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano warned that urgent action was needed to restore trust in public finances.
    "We all know those measures are wrong, we need to go to elections as soon as possible, and hopefully with a new electoral law," Di Pietro added.
    Elsewhere, tens of thousands of passengers were caught up in airport chaos as airport ground staff across the country came out to support the 8-hour strike.
    The strike is set to run from 0800-1600gmt, with most flights from national carrier Alitalia cancelled and many carriers being forced to cancel flights in the day.
    At Rome's Fiumcino airport the national and international departure terminal was virtually deserted. Many people had stayed away from the airport as prior notice allowed them to postpone bookings.
    "Strikes have their uses and purpose, I think, for the lower paid people. Its mainly the only way they have of demonstrating their power and to get better pay. I think in a way it is good, but for travellers, for people trying to get around from day to day it is an inconvenience, but there are two sides to every story," said Scottish traveller David Austin, who's British Airways midday flight had been pushed back to later in the evening.
    Many flights were indicated as cancelled on notice boards and travellers sought information from the few personnel who were available in the terminal.
    "These strikes penalise only the customers like us. They achieve nothing for the employees, they don't penalise air companies, they only penalise travellers who come to Italy and who are not going to come back," said an angry Canadian tourist Francesco Pisanelli.
    Some passengers remained stranded at the airport due to a previous log jam encountered by Alitalia passengers as people tried to travel before the strike started, leading to many flights being overbooked.
    "I have nothing against the strike but I should have been at home yesterday evening at ten thirty, I had a big overbooking problem on the way down to Catania and a huge problem going back to Genoa - in fact I am still here," said Alitalia customer Giulio Franchi.
    Ryanair was reported as having cancelled 200 flights throughout Italy. Many carriers have cancelled their flights in the day and laid on additional flights in the evening to try and move customers without too much delay.
    Tuesday's debate in the Senate is due to start at 4.30 p.m. (1430 GMT) with upper house approval possible as early as Wednesday (September 7) after the centre-left opposition Democratic Party said late on Monday it was willing to allow a swift vote.
    The package would then move to the lower house before final approval, originally expected by Sept. 20.
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