Nationwide strike and protests disrupt Italy over living costs, military spending

ROME, ITALY - OCT. 30: A 24-hour nationwide general strike disrupted Italy on Friday as trade unions, student groups, and civil society organizations led major protests against the rising cost of living and increased military spending.

Led by the Union of Base Trade Unions (USB), the strike affected multiple sectors, including logistics and education.

In Rome, large crowds gathered near the Termini central train station, marching toward the city center carrying anti-war banners and Palestinian flags. Demonstrators chanted slogans calling for the government's resignation and denouncing fascism.

During the march, some protesters threw lit flares toward security forces stationed outside the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. The procession later reached the Via dei Fori Imperiali, where students set up tents.

Clashes broke out near the Colosseum when a group of demonstrators overturned and set fire to trash cans to build barricades along Via Claudia, subsequently throwing projectiles at police.

An Italian and Austrian citizen, Alois, who participated in the Rome march, told Anadolu that he joined the protests to support the younger generation, stating it is a responsibility to stand with students facing economic hardship.

According to national media reports, scuffles between protesters and security forces also occurred in Turin, Bologna, and Vicenza. Police reportedly used batons to disperse crowds in Turin and deployed water cannons in Bologna.

In Milan, demonstrators marched from the city center to the ring road, temporarily blocking traffic. The Milan protest concluded without major incidents.

Simultaneously, dockworkers at major Italian ports, including Genoa, La Spezia, and Naples, blocked entrances in a coordinated action against global arms shipments. In Genoa, protesters ignited tires to barricade the port entrance before students joined the dockworkers' blockade later in the afternoon.

Jose Nivoi, a dockworker in Genoa, told Anadolu that the strike aligns with an international action involving 115 ports across five continents. He emphasized that dockworkers refuse to facilitate or bear the economic burden of conflicts, citing inflation, rising fuel costs, and the decline of public health and education systems.