Italy's largest trade union held a one-day strike against the government's economic and immigration policies yesterday, disrupting schools, hospitals, transport and other public services.
The left-wing CGIL, which has some six million members, more than half of whom are pensioners, called a nationwide stoppage across all sectors, saying Silvio Berlusconi's administration was failing to respond to the economic crisis.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in central Rome at the start of a march through the capital, carrying anti-government banners and letting off balloons.
"We've had enough Silvio (Berlusconi), we are fed up. He talks and talks but does everything just for himself," said marcher Stefano Cavallaro.
The CGIL, which staged rallies in around 100 towns and cities, says the government should cut taxes on payroll workers and pensioners, do more to protect jobs and reverse its tough policies on immigration.
The protest varied from city to city and across sectors, with public administration workers striking for the full day and public transport mostly halting for just four hours.
Pilots and airport ground staff also struck for four hours, causing flight cancellation by Alitalia and some other airlines.
"All the traffic is at a standstill, there are no taxis other than illegal ones that try to charge you €70, it's a huge problem," said Alessandro Stella, one of many would-be passengers waiting in vain for buses in Rome.
The CGIL strike followed protests in Greece on Thursday against draconian cutbacks announced by the Greek government to pull it out of a debt crisis which has shaken the eurozone. Smaller unions did not join the strike in Italy, meaning most public services were disrupted but did not grind to a complete halt.
Italy emerged from its worst post-war recession in the third quarter of last year but the economy posted another surprise contraction in the fourth quarter. Unemployment is still rising and the recovery is expected to be slow and patchy.
"The government is not doing what is needed to help investments and allow jobs to pick-up," CGIL leader Guglielmo Epifani told protesters in the north eastern city of Padua.
He has said CGIL will continue to strike and protest until the government changes its policies.
This month thousands of foreign workers held Italy's first "immigrant strike", aimed at underscoring their importance in the economy and protesting against policies such as making illegal immigration a criminal offence and repelling vessels carrying migrants heading towards Italy.
At the end of a two day visit to Italy this week the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said its politicians and media should stop treating immigration largely as a public order problem and focus on fostering integration.
Mr Berlusconi's rating in polls has been falling in recent months following a spate of scandals and bureaucratic bungling by his centre-right coalition, which failed to present some candidates in time for regional elections later this month.
The local vote on March 28-29 will be seen as an important test of the government's popularity two years after its crushing victory at the 2008 general election.