Berlin, FRG (Weltexpress). The nationwide 24-hour general strike called by the grassroots trade unions Union sindacale di Base (USB) for Friday, 13 December 2024, took place successfully in all public and private sectors, the union reported. The USB rejected the order of the Minister of Infrastructure, Salvini of the Lega, to shorten the strike to four hours. The minister reacted: ‘There will be chaos.’ The work stoppage affected industry and transport, schools and universities, and healthcare. After the major trade unions CGIL and UIL had already largely paralysed the country with a general strike on 29 November 2024, the Roman daily newspaper ‘Messaggero’ again referred to it as ‘Black Friday’.
Buses, trams and taxis stopped at the start of the shift. Times were set for workers to travel to and from work: in Rome, 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. In Milan, for the underground, from the start of the shift at 8:45 a.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Regional trains ran during the busiest times, from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. While air traffic was excluded from the strike, the administrative staff of the maritime transport sector went on strike for the entire shift, and connections to the large islands were interrupted from midnight until 11:59 p.m. At the carmaker Stellantis, a time bomb exploded after the resignation of CEO Carlos Tavares, resulting in hundreds of layoffs. At the Mirafiori plant in Turin, the assembly lines are to remain idle until 20 January 2025 due to a lack of demand for electric cars. Although the fascist Prime Minister Meloni wanted to intervene here, she has so far stood idly by.
Today, the working class is taking to the streets again to express its opinion on the Meloni government’s war economy and to defend this country’s industry and jobs, and to demand higher wages, said the USB call, which emphasised that this country has lacked everything so far. Firstly, the ability to clearly and unambiguously align industrial policy with the ecological transition. While companies distribute billions in dividends among shareholders, not a single euro is invested in our country. The ‘free market’ has only served the interests of a few, while undermining those of the community.
Thousands of strikers gathered in Rome at Piazzale Tiburtino from 9:30 a.m. and in Milan at Porta Venezia from 10:00 a.m. In Turin, students clashed with police during a protest march. According to the news agency ‘ANSA’, students threw eggs and stones at a police unit, which responded with batons.
Delegations of transport workers, railway workers, dockers and local transport workers had gathered in a sit-in in front of Salvini’s ministry to protest against the fact that wages have been stagnating for years. They also protested against the fact that the 2025 budget, which is currently being debated in parliament, contains massive cuts for ministries, local authorities, schools and universities, while nothing is being done to combat growing poverty and pensioners are being mercilessly left to their fate of poverty.
The USB pointed out that the 2025 budget takes no account whatsoever of the growing poverty affecting over 5 million Italians. More than 4.5 million of them are pensioners receiving less than €1,000.00 a month. Those under 75 years of age have to get by on €598.61, and those over 75 years of age on €614.77. They are to receive, believe it or not, about three euros more in comparison to the increase in the cost of living.
For the health sector, where 200,000 people could no longer afford the medication they needed in 2023 because pharmaceutical companies had increased the prices of drugs by a total of 2.5 billion euros in the previous seven years, almost half of the budget is to be cut, which would correspond to a drop to 6.3% of GDP. As 200,000 doctors demonstrated on 20 November 2024 during a strike against these disastrous conditions, the sector needs at least 50 billion euros just to maintain a minimum level of care.
