Hundreds of thousands of Italians shouting anti-government slogans marched in Rome today to protest Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's handling of the economic crisis and demand more spending to create jobs.
Waving red union banners and balloons, students, workers and leftist politicians marched in five processions through the city as part of the demonstration organised by Italy's biggest labour union CGIL. Much of Rome's centre was blocked off to traffic.
"The government keeps making announcements instead of taking proper actions like giving a cheque to people who lose their jobs," said one protester, Achille Mantovani.
"Berlusconi talks and talks but the money never shows up."
Other protesters shouted "Ciao Silvio, ciao Silvio" as one procession meandered past the Colosseum while one worker held up a banner saying "Enough! It's time Italy fires Berlusconi".
Opposition leader Dario Franceschini was among a raft of senior leftist politicians who participated, calling it a show of support for hapless workers with jobs at risk. Organisers said 2.7 million people took to the streets in the protest.
"Why doesn't the government want to do more?" CGIL union boss Guglielmo Epifani told protesters pouring into the Circo Massimo grounds. "Why is the government spending only an additional 4 billion euros during a crisis of this magnitude?"
Berlusconi has said Italy's stimulus package to pull its recession-hit economy out of a slump includes measures worth up to 80 billion euros, but critics say only a fraction is fresh spending, with the vast majority recycling existing funds.
Employers' lobby Confindustria expects more than 500,000 Italians will lose their jobs in the two years up to mid-2010 while CGIL says a million more will be unemployed at the end of 2010 than before the crisis began in 2007.
Most of those will be temporary workers who, unlike in many European countries, have no right to any employment benefits or income support.
"The government's actions are opportunistic," said Lorena Guidi, one such temporary worker who took part in the protest.
"They defend banks and businessmen while workers are increasingly squeezed."