Italian unions call general strike

Saturday's successful rally is believed to have boosted union morale

Italy's three largest unions are to stage a general strike on 16 April to protest against controversial labour law reforms, as relations with the government sink to new lows.

There will be an eight-hour general strike on 16 April

Savino Pezzotta
CISL union

The decision to set a date for the long-threatened strike came after the Italian Government cancelled Tuesday's talks about the planned reforms with unions and employer representatives.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wants to give businesses much greater freedom to hire and fire their workers, a move vehemently opposed by the unions.

April's strike has been called by the CGIL, UIL and CISL unions, which together have eight million members across the public and private sectors.

The strike, which is due to last for eight hours, will be the first of its kind for two decades.

Reform fervour

Relations between the unions and Mr Berlusconi's right-wing government, which is intent on overhauling the labour market, have steadily deteriorated in recent months.

Mr Berlusconi insists on reform despite his country's economic success

Some analysts had forecast that last week's murder of government aide Marco Biagi, who had masterminded the reforms, would wrong-foot the unions, and hinder efforts to launch a major protest.

Mr Berlusconi had urged the unions to call off any plans for a general strike in the wake of the assassination.

But a rally on Saturday organised by the CGIL union, which brought two million people onto the streets of Rome to protests against Mr Berlusconi's policies, is widely believed to have boosted morale in union ranks.

After hearing the unions had set a date for the strike, the prime minister, who had earlier cancelled talks, said his government remained "extremely open to dialogue with all sides".

But he has made clear he intends to press ahead with plans for reform.

"These reforms are asked of us by Europe and without them we risk losing the train of modernisation," he insisted on Tuesday.

The unions see workers' job security as sacrosanct.

They point out that while employment legislation in Italy may be the most rigid in Europe, the country is still in the vanguard of the European economy.