On Saturday 16 October hundreds of thousands of Italian metalworkers demonstrated in Rome in a rally organised by FIOM, the metalworkers' federation of the CGIL union confederation, demanding workers’ rights, democracy and jobs. Two separate protests marched peacefully to Piazza San Giovanni, where a final rally took place and the general secretary of FIOM, Maurizio Landini, as well as the general secretary of CGIL, Guglielmo Epifani, addressed the public. Landini said, “We take to the streets to defend the national contract, which risks to be cancelled, to defend work and democracy and to show a different exit from this crises from that shown by the government and the Italian Association of Employers, given one of the biggest assaults of all times on the rights of workers.” The CGIL stated it will take again to the street on November 27, and if no response from the government, the union will call a general strike.
English: http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=24389&l=2
M.vanKlaveren@uva.nl. You may find further information on the ETUI atwww.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net. © ETUI aisbl, Brussels 2009. For more information, please contact the editor Maarten van Klaveren, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS)