On Tuesday 24 January, nationwide strike action and traffic blocks of truck drivers, among which many self-employed, have disrupted traffic and industrial supply. Five Fiat car factories had to close temporarily. The truckers' actions are opposing a new government tax that has increased fuel prices. Their organisations have announced further strikes in February, as have done doctors, lawyers, pharmacists and other professional groups in protest of various aspects of the reforms planned by the Monti government. The main union confederations obviously take a cautious stand regarding the social unrest. Raffaele Bonanni, leader of the CISL confederation, said, concerning the truckers: “There needs to be a solution that gives hope to the workers. They do an exhausting job and they are undercut by truck drivers from other countries.”
English: http://www.agi.it/english-version/business/elenco-notizie/20120128 ...;
http://news.ph.msn.com/business/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5801867
This article was published in the Collective Bargaining Newsletter. It aims to facilitate information exchange between trade unions and to support the work of ETUC's collective bargaining committee. For more information, please contact the editor Maarten van Klaveren, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) M.vanKlaveren@uva.nl or the communications officer of the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net. © ETUI aisbl, Brussels 2012.