Strike, grassroots trade unions: a day of protest, with a million people taking to the streets.

According to provisional figures from the Ministry of Education and Merit, updated at 5.00 pm today, nationwide participation in the full-day strike on 30 October stands at 7.57 per cent. The survey currently covers 54.73 per cent of educational institutions.

An “extraordinary” day of struggle for grassroots trade unions, protest movements and activist groups. The strike called by USB, Cobas, ADL, CLAP, SIAL and CUB – and which was endorsed by a large number of student organisations involved in occupations and protests – brought at least one million people onto the streets of 70 cities, with the highest turnout in Rome, where traffic disruption was reported. This was reported by Cobas spokesperson Piero Bernocchi.
“The alliance between grassroots trade unions, students and social centres had already been seen last autumn in support of Palestine,” he emphasises, “but back then, the mobilisation was driven largely by outrage over the bombings in Gaza. Today, however, the huge turnout on the streets was driven by the social, economic and political conflict in our country, the high cost of living, exorbitant energy prices, the demand for ‘higher wages, fewer weapons’, investment in schools, healthcare and public facilities, and the rejection of repressive measures.”

“The success of today’s action means we must decide swiftly – and our organisations will discuss and decide on this shortly – how to continue the national mobilisation, whilst also taking into account the possibility of a new general strike, even in the near future,” he adds.