Italian unions strike against austerity

Italy's national confederation CGIL has called for a one-day national general strike on September 6 to demand the government rescind its budgetary and legislative attacks on workers and their rights.

Ignoring years of union calls for measures to address the country's economic and fiscal issues, on August 12 the government approved an austerity plan to meet the demands of  the European Commission and the European Central Bank by sharply cutting public sector wages, jobs and pensions, reducing spending for municipal and local authorities while refusing to implement a wealth tax. The budget contains no measures to promote employment, particularly for young job-seekers, and has been accompanied by unilateral measures to facilitate discriminatory firing. The CGIL is also calling on the government to take a clear stance in favor of a tax on financial transactions to fund investment and job creation.

The strike is timed to coincide with the debate in the Senate, Italy's upper house of parliament. The union wants the government measures scrapped and replaced with its own comprehensive program to meet the crisis while protecting jobs and rights.