Nationwide Strike Brings Marches Across Italy: Protests over Cost of Living, War and Rearmament
Big demonstrations took place in cities all over Italy on Friday, October 30, in relation to a general strike called by the USB grass-roots trade union over the cost-of-living crisis, war, rearmament and the policies of Premier Giorgia Meloni's government, among other issues, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. The marches took place amid a big police presence, with fears of more of the violence that overshadowed protests in Italy in recent weeks.
Shocking scenes of rioting and looting by youths in Milan on the weekend of October 17-18 were followed by protests that turned violent in Turin, Rome and Bologna last Saturday, ANSA said.
On Friday, thousands of workers, university and high-school students and, in some cases, their parents were marching in dozens of cities including Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin, Venice and Palermo.
'We are taking to the streets alongside workers who are mobilizing against the high cost of living and policies of war and rearmament,' the student groups La Rete della Conoscenza, Link - Coordinamento Universitario and Unione degli Studenti said. 'We are taking to the streets because we can no longer accept that the cost of crises is systematically offloaded onto our lives. Rising prices, for rent, utility bills, and basic necessities, make it increasingly difficult to cover daily expenses, while wages and salaries continue to lose their purchasing power.'
The day of action coincided with an international mobilization of dockworkers across more than 40 ports in the Mediterranean and Europe, who downed tools to protest against the arms trade, the militarization of infrastructure and the involvement of ports in war operations. Images of the faces of Meloni and Higher Education Minister Anna Maria Bernini were burned in Naples, while a photo of Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara got the same treatment in Padua. Two bins of manure were dumped outside Turin city hall as part of the protest there. (Source: GSM·USA)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 意大利罗马斗兽场与罗马广场，罗马是10月30日全国总罢工游行的城市之一。图源：Wikimedia Commons，Wilfredor，CC0 | The Colosseum and Roman Forum in Rome, Italy, one of the cities that saw marches during the nationwide strike on October 30. Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Wilfredor, CC0
