Students occupy Rome's Sapienza humanities faculty ahead of Italy's 30 October general strike

The occupation

Collectives announced late on Wednesday, 28 October, that they had occupied the Lettere e Filosofia faculty of the University of Rome La Sapienza. The youth and student group Cambiare Rotta posted photos of banners on the building's facade and called an assembly for 11:30 the following day. The occupation followed an assembly held earlier on the same day, and a runoff ballot to choose the university's rector was still under way at the university.

The Osa collective framed the action as part of a wider wave of protest. "Our generation is in revolt, it is tired of putting up with things, and it has raised its head," the collective said, pointing to tent camps in Spain, unrest in France, strikes in Germany against military conscription, occupied schools and universities across Italy, and a victory in Serbia.

Demands

Cambiare Rotta linked the occupation to war, rising prices and cuts to education. It said the shopping basket now costs 50% more than it did five years ago, and it argued that governments are directing spending toward the military rather than wages, healthcare and training. The group accused the Meloni government and University Minister Anna Maria Bernini of offering 'propaganda' instead of solutions. It also cited policing and security decrees against those who oppose the government, and it warned that universities and research will face ever deeper funding cuts.

Friday's general strike

The occupation feeds into a general strike called by the Unione Sindacale di Base for Friday, 30 October. Cambiare Rotta set the meeting point for the strike at 8:30 at Piazzale Aldo Moro in Rome. The group described the strike as a joint action of workers, from dock workers who block arms shipments to farmers, factory staff and teachers. An opinion piece in Il Fatto Quotidiano described the strike as an international action by more than 100 ports in the Mediterranean and Atlantic against the military use of infrastructure, rearmament and war.

What comes next

The next scheduled step is the assembly at 11:30 on Thursday, 29 October, at the occupied faculty. Organisers then plan to join the general strike on Friday, 30 October, when the meeting point is 8:30 at Piazzale Aldo Moro. The sources do not say how long the occupation will last or whether the rector runoff will affect it.