The general strike called for by Italy’s CGIL and UIL national trade unions saw a high rate of participation in the industrial sector, but an insignificant participation in the public sector on Friday, Nov. 29. According to the organizers, half a million workers took to the streets nationally, with 80% participation in the strike by industrial workers. In the public sector, however, including schools and administration, participation was as low as 5%.
The half-failure of the strike must be an alarm bell for the trade unions, of a dangerous dissatisfaction from a sector of the population. Although the strike demands are real—higher wages, higher pensions, better health services etc., the trade unions have been accused of political aims. CGIL head Maurizio Landini had called for a “social revolt” against the government of Giorgia Meloni, offering the flank to those who insist that the former Communist trade union had buried the war axe under previous liberal governments, who are co-responsible for the decay of living standards and general economic conditions. In this context, the “catholic” trade union CISL, a member of the tripartite Confederation of Trade Unions together with CGIL and UIL, had dissociated from the strike.
