ROME (AP) — Italy’s largest union called a nationwide strike on Friday to protest the government’s budget plans, severely disrupting transportation, health and school services across the country.
The protests were against the 2026 budget bill proposed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s conservative government, and two weeks ago smaller unions organized another general strike with the same motive.
The strike mainly affects rail transport, with cancellations and delays on both long-distance and regional trains. Due to a lack of local public transportation in many cities, public schools across the country have canceled classes, forcing students to stay home.
In a statement, the CGIL union listed the reasons for the strike, including demands for greater investment in health care, education and housing rights, as well as measures to address workplace safety issues.
CGIL Secretary General Maurizio Landini led a rally in Florence on Friday morning criticizing the budget as “unfair, wrong and dangerous”. He said the main social emergency now was low wages and government measures would not solve the problem.
Tens of thousands of workers took to the streets on Friday in demonstrations and rallies in support of the strike from north to south.
When the protests were announced last month, Meloni and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini scoffed at unions organizing strikes as usual on Friday, suggesting it was an excuse for a long weekend.
They also defended the government’s budget bill, saying it meets the needs of citizens to reduce financial stress and provide more financial help to families.
The nationwide strike in Italy comes just a day after Portugal’s two main trade union confederations also launched a nationwide strike, which severely disrupted travel on Thursday and forced the cancellation of many medical appointments and school classes.
Two labor groups representing nearly a million Portuguese workers said it could be the country’s biggest strike in more than a decade as they challenge plans by the center-right government to change employment laws.
