We want to turn country upside down says Landini

General strike against 2025 budget Friday affecting all sectors

By: ansa.it

Nov 29 2024
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We want to turn country upside

Maurizio Landini, leader of the CGIL trade union, Italy's biggest and most leftwing labour group, said on Friday that everyone needed to participate in the fight against injustice as the country needed to be turned upside down, speaking on the sidelines of a rally in Bologna during a general strike proclaimed by CGIL and UIl against the 2025 budget.
    "We want to turn this country upside down and, to do so, we need the participation of all people", said Landini.
    "Social revolt means saying that everyone of us must not turn the other way in front of injustice, on the contrary, it is necessary to promote the idea that we can change the situation only be working together.
    "Today begins a journey of mobilization to turn this country upside down", he noted, saying the government wanted to question the right to strike.
    "Parliament is discussing a decree, which is called security decree and we are asking for it to be withdrawn, that vies to turn strikes, road blocks, squatting in factories when they close into crimes", said the leader of CGIL, denouncing a "serious attempt at an authoritarian turn that questions the freedom to exist and people's freedom".
    Meanwhile at a rally in Naples, the leader of UIL Pierpaolo Bombardieri said the democratic and peaceful protests staged across Italy during the general strike Friday were a response to the "insults" of Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini.
    "It seems to me that Salvini has not wasted insults, he told us that we are extremists, that we are ridiculous, and those insults were perhaps aimed at the people filling out 40 squares in this beautiful country, who demand to be heard, to change the choices made so far", he said, stressing that the "democratic, peaceful demonstration" were staged to demand change.
    The strike on Friday will last eight hours or the entire work shift for the public and private sectors, with the exception of transport where, following a back-to-work order, it has been reduced to four hours in particular for local public transport, air transport and maritime transport.
    Overall, the general strike involves all sectors, with the exclusion of rail transport which will not grind to a halt again after a strike organized last weekend.
    The action affects, among others, schools, healthcare, postal services, the public administration, as well as stores and factories.
    In the transport sector, based on the back-to-work ordinance signed by Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, the stop for planes, including air traffic controllers, will be from 10 am to 2 pm.
    For buses, metro and trams as well as for ships and ferries it will be from 9 am to 1 pm, always respecting the guarantee bands.
    Firefighters will also strike from 10 am to 2 pm.
    Taxi services will not be guaranteed for the whole day.
    Unions are asking for salary hikes, more funding for healthcare, education, public services and industrial action.
    Over 40 demonstrations have been organized across Italy.
    On Thursday, CGIL and UIL appealed to Lazio's regional administrative tribunal TAR against the back-to-work order in the transport sector issued by Salvini.
    Later in the day, the transport ministry said TAR had rejected an appeal presented by a number of unions against the back-to-work order, but CGIL and UIL said it was not the one they had filed.