From: "cwright" <cwright-AT-21stcentury.net>
Subject: AUT: 2 million march in Rome
Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 09:14:43 -0600


This is a multi-part message in MIME format.


Do any of our Italian and/or Italy-aware comrades know more about this or have any critical appreciation of the event?  This article is kinda lousy politically, but the mere fact of the march is interesting enough itself.

Cheers,
Chris

from YAHOO.COM NEWS :

Two Million Union Protesters Descend on Rome
Sat Mar 23,10:14 AM ET
By Luke Baker

ROME (Reuters) - Up to two million unionists descended
on Rome on Saturday, painting the city center red with
billowing flags in a massive show of force against
plans by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to re-write
labor laws.

Photos

Reuters Photo 

 
The demonstration was also broadened into a protest
against political violence following the killing last
Tuesday of a senior government adviser who drew up
changes to Italy's long-standing employment rules.

More than 9,000 buses and 60 special trains carried
members of Italy's largest union, the CGIL, from all
corners of Italy, bringing central Rome to a
standstill.

There was a heavy police presence on the watch for any
disturbances and helicopters buzzed overhead
monitoring the huge crowds. Hundreds of
anti-globalization protesters mingled with the throng
of marchers.

Television broadcasts and union leaders estimated the
turnout at "up to two million" people. Police said
there were at least a million protesters although they
said it was too early to give a definitive figure.

Tuesday's murder of government adviser Marco Biagi by
leftist extremists cast a pall over the event, but
union leaders said they would not let the killing
lessen their resolve.

"We are here to fight terrorism, to support democracy
and to show the government its intentions are wrong,"
CGIL leader Sergio Cofferati told supporters crammed
into the Circus Maximus, site of ancient Rome's
chariot races.

"With your courage and your passion, we will realize
our dreams," he said to loud cheers and applause.

Biagi was a respected economist who had worked with
both the previous center-left administration and the
current conservative government on labor issues. An
offshoot of the Red Brigades guerrilla movement
claimed responsibility for his killing.

GIANT GATHERING

The CGIL said Saturday's turnout was one of the
biggest in modern Italian history and exceeded a 1994
rally when more than a million people took to the
streets to protest pension reforms put forward by
Berlusconi, during his first stint in government.

Shortly after that demonstration, Berlusconi's
government collapsed and he was not voted back into
power until last year.

"Our fundamental rights are at stake, the rights of
workers and the poor," said Pietro, 50, a construction
worker who traveled to Rome from Brindisi on the heel
of Italy. "I couldn't not be here."

"I'm here not so much for myself, but for my
13-month-old daughter," said Maria Cristina, 30, a
secretary. "I want to fight for the rights she should
have when she starts to work."

Unionists say the proposed labor reforms will make it
easier for companies to sack staff. Berlusconi says it
will make the labor market more flexible and create
jobs.

While Cofferati and other union leaders reveled in the
gigantic show of support, Berlusconi's allies were
dismissive.

"This is not good for the Italian people," said Renato
Schifani, a senior senator from Berlusconi's Forza
Italia party.

"At this difficult time, we would have expected
someone like Cofferati to try to reduce the social
friction which risks feeding the atmosphere of
terrorism. Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case
today."

HIGH TENSION

The march comes at a time of heightened social and
political tension in Italy, with the shooting of Biagi
raising fears of a return to the politically motivated
violence that scarred the country in the 1970s and
1980s.

While unionists were among the first to condemn
Biagi's killing, the death and its timing has left the
labor movement in a delicate position, with some
rightist politicians linking union opposition of labor
reform to the murder.

Waving banners reading "Terrorism kills our rights"
and "Don't touch Article 18" -- a reference to the
labor reform the government wants to push through --
Saturday's protesters appeared determined but
peaceful.

"We are answering those who accuse us of being with
the terrorists. My father was killed by the Red
Brigades. I'm here to say that workers and protesters
are not at all supporters of terrorists," said
Salvatore Berardi.

Saturday's march is one of several planned in the days
and weeks ahead which pit the power of the unions --
representing some 12 million people -- against the
government.

On Wednesday the three major union federations are
co-sponsoring a mass demonstration against terrorism
and for workers' rights. The same day, they will set a
date for a general strike, expected to take place in
April.
"One No, Many Yesses"

HTML VERSION: