Hundreds of thousands of Italians took to mass protest in Rome
Hundreds of thousands of Italians took part in the largest demonstration of Italian trade unions in Rome on Saturday, February 9.
The event was held from Republic square to the Piazza San Giovanni, reports “RIA Novosti”. The protesters are protesting against the policies of the current government and demand reforms that promote economic growth.
“Our goal is to unite the trade unions in Europe in the name of society, based on human and labor,” — said in his speech, the head of the Italian General Confederation of labour (Cgil) of Maurizio Landini.
The demonstrators criticized including a new pension reform and the introduction of civilian income for the unemployed and the poor. In their opinion, such innovations do not contribute to real economic development, hinder the fight against unemployment and poverty.
Earlier, the national statistical Committee reported that Italy entered technical recession: GDP decreased two quarters in a row. The government expects 1% growth, while the Bank of Italy and the IMF considered a realistic 0.6 percent, passed Euronews 31 January. Data show that the country has achieved the worst results over the last five years.
On 29 January the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, has signed the law on the conduct of the country’s pension reform. Now the time of retirement will be determined by the formula: age of the citizen plus his seniority. In sum, the indicators must give the number 100. Thus, the minimum pension age was 62 years. In this case, the seniority of a citizen must be at least 38 years. In addition, the new law introduces payment of up to €780 monthly to the poor.