Italian workers strike over austerity cuts

Tens of thousands of Italian workers went on strike yesterday, grounding flights and hampering the Rome metro, in a protest against austerity cuts ordered by the conservative government.

Italy's biggest union, the CGIL, which called the strike, said more than one million workers took to the streets across cities in Italy, with 100,000 in the northern city of Bologna and 70,000 in the southern city of Naples.

Throughout the day, 48 flights were cancelled at Rome's Fiumicino airport while several others experienced delays, according to the Telenews airport news agency.

Subway lines came to a halt in Rome and Naples for four hours, with some buses not circulating in the two cities. In Milan, the three subway lines ran normally, according to the city's transport company.

Workers on ferries to Italy's numerous islands, ports operators and highway tollbooth workers also went on strike for four hours, while truckers were urged to strike all day.