Yesterday, the newly-installed government of Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti moved to crush continuing protests by truckers, fishermen and other professions affected by Monti’s unpopular deregulation measures and social attacks.
Airline and public transport sector workers are also set to go on strike today, after nearly a week of protests by truckers.
Increases up to 50 percent have been reported on food and fuel prices, as truckers refuse to carry freight and set up highway roadblocks that prevent the re-supply of retail stores. The truck blockades have particularly affected the food industry, as supermarkets are not receiving supplies.
Grocery stores and street markets in Naples are empty. Vegetables, milk and other daily products are in increasingly short supply, with grocers in Rome reporting that vegetable and fish supplies are down 80 and 90 percent, respectively. Operations at major industrial plants including Coca-Cola and Italian automaker Fiat were also halted for lack of supplies.
The media is waging a cynical campaign aimed at pitting the population against the truckers, denouncing the truck drivers who are blocking scabs from delivering supplies.
Protests have continued in Sicily, where the initial truckers’ strike began last week, as the protest group Movimento dei Forconi (Movement of PitchforksMDF) organized a rally in Palermo on Wednesday that attracted 10,000 people. They are not going to stop us, politicians do their part or go home, MDF leader Mariano Ferro said during the Palermo protest.
Wednesday also saw clashes between fishermen, who came from all over Italy to protest, and police in riot gear outside Montecitorio Palace, the Italian Chamber of deputies, where Monti was asking for broader support for a series of deregulatory and austerity measures. He eventually obtained the support of three major political parties: the bourgeois left Democratic Party (PD), the right-wing PDL (People of Freedom) of ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and the Third Pole (TP), which includes neo-fascist forces.
Police attacked the protesters after some firecrackers were thrown at Montecitorio Palace. Five fishermen were injured by the brutal response of the police, including two in serious condition. Fishermen yelled, Shame! Shame! and Assassins! One of the fishermen said, We are workers and fathers of families. You can beat us but we won’t move.
Then the protesters left Piazza Montecitorio to rally on Piazza Venezia until 7PM.
Fishermen denounced fuel price increases (due to increased taxes and oil prices), a proposed point-based license system, and demands that the origin of seafood sold in markets be traceablethus imposing a heavy burden on hard-hit small fishermen. Without any subsidies or government support, many fishermen will be forced out of business.
With the point-based license, the holder is subject to fines for a series of easy-to-commit infringements, such as fishing too close to the coast, catching undersized fish, and using non-approved nets or tools. For each of these infringements, there is a financial sanction and a loss of points; if a total of 18 points is lost, the fisherman’s license is suspended for two months. Fishermen fear they will be forced to choose between being fined or fishing much less.
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