Thousands of workers, students and pensioners marched through Rome on 17 October in a national demonstration called 'La via maestra'. The CGIL trade union and more than 100 secular and Catholic associations promoted the event under the slogan 'Lavoro, pace, ambiente, welfare, Costituzione'. The procession was due to leave Piazza della Repubblica around 14:00 and head to Piazza del Popolo, where Maurizio Landini, the CGIL general secretary, would close the rally. Elly Schlein of the Democratic Party and Giuseppe Conte, leader of the Five Star Movement, took part. Union flags mixed with those of peace, Palestine and Cuba, and some banners and slogans targeted the government.
Schlein said the square reminded her of the spirit that carried her side to victory in a constitutional referendum which, by everyone's account, had already been lost. Asked whether the event was a nod to a broad centre-left alliance, Landini answered that the march was not meant to speak for one side:
“We speak to the whole country, we are not here to represent one part of it.”
The platform covers a broad set of demands. Organisers want higher wages and pensions, an end to precarious contracts, action on working poverty and a narrower gender pay gap. On tax they ask for a crackdown on evasion, a lighter burden on wages and pensions, and taxes on windfall profits, rents and large fortunes, with progressive taxation so that those with more contribute more. They also want public health funding raised to 7.5% of GDP and education funding raised to 5%, along with new public hiring and shorter waiting lists. Access to housing, rejection of higher military spending and the protection of the Constitution complete the list.
Clashes broke out in via Broletto, in central Milan, where stones were thrown toward police. The volley began in the direction of officers at the point where a march called 'Italia in piazza', with more than 5,000 participants, was halted near via San Tomaso. Police in riot gear made a charge to clear the road, the column split in two and groups of young people headed toward via Bossi. Damage reported in the city included ATM bus shelters and glass windows on the upper floors of some historic buildings. The sources do not yet give a count of injuries or arrests.
Landini tied the demonstration to the government's budget, saying:
“The only thing I clearly understand in the budget law is that 14 billion will be spent on weapons.”
He said that spending was not what the country needs and set against it a welfare state, public services and jobs. He also returned to fiscal drag, arguing that employees and pensioners were paying 4.5 billion euros in taxes they should not pay this year, and that the money should stay in their pockets.
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Thousands of workers, students and pensioners joined the CGIL-led march in Rome on 17 October, while in Milan protesters threw stones at police and officers charged to clear the street.
AI text based on reports by ANSA.it, Il Messaggero, il Giornale.it and other publishers. Published .