Italy
Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi might lose immunity
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During the summer of 2008, Italian opposition party Italia Dei Valori lead by Antonio Di Pietro asked the population to sign a petition calling for a referendum against the Lodo Alfano immunity law, issued by Italian Neo-Liberal government.
The law was implemented to save prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and Italy's four most senior office holders from being persecuted for corruption and other crimes. Petition signing points were placed over several Italian cities and they were promptly attended by hundreds of thousands of residents holding ID cards and making the initiative a great success.
Alitalia wildcat grounds 114 flights
A wildcat strike by Alitalia workers Thursday forced the Italian flagship airline to cancel 114 flights.
Part of the airline's ground personnel held a general assembly at Rome's Fiumicino airport for several hours early Thursday. The action by workers fearful of losing their jobs when Alitalia is relaunched as a private airline next week caused the cancellation of 63 departing flights and 51 Rome-bound flights.
General strike in Italy against government handling of the crisis
Hundreds of thousands of workers downed tools and took to the streets in a four hour stoppage stating "we won't pay for the crisis".
The strike by the General Confederation of Italian workers (CGIL) shut down postal services nationwide, transport services and airports in several cities and many automobile manufacturers, in some of which strikers were joined by members of other unions.
Troubled airline Alitalia sold
Italian national airline Alitalia, after a long period of agony, will survive at the expense of its workers and taxpayers.
When Alitalia started going bankrupt because of its irreparable debts, the Italian government instead of selling it to the first aspirant buyer – that is Air France - decided to reject its extremely convenient offer thinking that they could have saved the national airline by some ingenious stratagem.
Wave of dissent in Italy
Italians continue to react to neoliberal reforms as students and workers unite in a joint effort to combat attacks on education.
500 students in Rome, members of the movement which has dubbed itself " The Wave", broke in the lecture theatre during the inauguration of the academic year at the La Sapienza public university.
Italian students: We will not pay for their crisis
Italian students keep on demonstrating against the recent reforms supported by the Ministry of Education.
“We will not pay for this crisis” is the slogan of the Wave, the nickname used by students in Italy for their movement against the recent education reforms put forward by the Minister of Education, Gelmini.
Alitalia workers wildcat
A wildcat strike by Alitalia employees on Tuesday forced the cancellation of at least 20 flights at Rome's Fiumicino airport and further disruptions at airports in Milan, Naples and Venice.
Alitalia said a total of 124 flights were canceled among all its operations Tuesday as a result of the wildcat strike a day earlier, as well as because of a work-to-the-rules job action, which pilots have been waging. The airline predicted some 50 flights would have to be scratched on Wednesday.
Warm autumn? Heat rises in Italian education
In response to new educational reforms from the Berlusconi government, staff and students at Italy's schools and universities have risen in revolt. What follows is an overview of what's been going on.
2.5 million people gathered last Saturday, October 25th, in Circo Massimo in Rome. The demonstration had been called by the Italian party PD (the Democratic Party, centre-left) whose leader Walter Veltroni was defeated by Berlusconi in the last election (Spring 2008).
Rebellion against Italian education reform grows
Protest against government cuts in school and university research funding has escalated with mass street demonstrations and occupations spreading across the country.
Massive protests are taking place in many Italian cities and towns against Berlusconi's government school reforms, which consist of cuts on public university and research funds, the introduction of student behavior evaluation and the separation of foreign students from the Italian ones in different classes.
FIAT factory blockaded
The FIAT factory at Pomigliano (NA) in Southern Italy has been blockaded since Thursday April 10th.
The mobilisation was organised by a workers committee, constituted independently from union membership. 99% of workers adhered to the strike, which was loosened on Monday 14th April when workers decided to only block gates for goods in an attempt to force the factory to a halt.
