Socialist Viewpoint

Italy’s Main Unions to Strike Against War

Italy’s three main labor unions will launch national strikes to protest against war as soon as any attack on Iraq begins, the head of one of them said. “The three confederations have agreed that as soon as war operations begin we will proclaim strikes to stop workers,” Savino Pezzotta, head of the Italian Confederation of Workers Unions (CISL), told reporters.

Despite Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s staunch support for the U.S. hard line on Iraq, a majority of Italians oppose the war and millions have marched in protests in recent weeks.

The three unions, representing millions of workers across the board, brought the country to a standstill with two strikes last year. The unions, CISL, CGIL (General Confederation of Italian Unions) and UIL (Union of Italian Workers) represent some 11 million workers and pensioners.

It was not immediately clear what impact the action would have as the unions did not say how long the strikes would last and whether they would be simultaneous or staggered.

The CGIL, Italy’s biggest union, organized an antiwar march in Milan on Saturday that drew 300,000 protesters.

Earlier this month, Italian dockers went on strike for the last hour of their shifts to protest against the United States using the country’s ports to ship war equipment out to the Gulf.

—Boston Herald, March 18, 2003