ITALY’S LARGEST left-wing confederated trade union, the CGIL, yesterday enacted a nationwide strike against the background of concerns about the centre-right Berlusconi government’s ability to guide Italy through its grave financial crisis.

More than 200 flights in and out of Milan and Rome were cancelled and public transport all over Italy was greatly reduced as sections of the workforce in more than 100 cities including Rome, Milan, Florence, Naples and Turin protested against the government’s most recent austerity plan.

Speaking at the main protest in Rome, CGIL leader Susanna Camusso was outspoken in her criticism of the proposed plan, especially a measure which will make it easier to dismiss employees: “The country does not deserve this plan because it is irresponsible. It contains no ideas either for the future or to stimulate growth”.

Worries about the traditional negative factors in the Italian economy – zero growth, a 120 per cent debt to GDP ratio, 27 per cent youth unemployment and the influence of organised crime – have been heightened in the last month. This has been caused by the Berlusconi government’s apparent inability or unwillingness to enact cost-cutting and tax measures seen as necessary by the European Central Bank and the European Commission.

When the government proposed and then dropped measures such as a wealth tax, a curb on pension entitlements and the reduction of public holidays, President Giorgio Napolitano entered the public debate.

Late on Monday night he he appeared to call on the government to act quickly and put tough measures into the new austerity plan. “Much more effective measures need to be included in the plan. No one should underestimate the alarm bells being rung by the [size of] the spread with German bonds,” he said.

The president’s concern may have been prompted by worries about the ECB’s willingness to continue buying Italian debt and divisions within Silvio Berlusconis centre-right coalition government.

Minister for finance Giulio Tremonti has had to contend with fierce lobbying from Northern League exponents who reject a hike on VAT, while centre-right regional governors and mayors all over Italy have bitterly denounced local government cuts. On top of that, the group of Responsabili, a key element in guaranteeing the Berlusconi majority, have called for a tax and a building regulation amnesty.

Furthermore, in an apparent change of mind, it now seems that the government will transform the vote on the austerity plan into a confidence vote in an attempt to speed up the process.

Commenting on this decision, Pier Luigi Bersani, leader of the main opposition party, the Democratic Party (PD) said last night: “They promised not to turn it into a confidence motion so that we could all have our say and make our contributions. Yet again, they have changed the terms. This is a government that only knows how to lie.”