A videoconference meeting was held chaired by the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, with the prefects, police commissioners and heads of the police forces of all the regional capitals, in view of the marches announced for tomorrow. From the meeting it emerged that a "comprehensive device will be put in place to protect the right to demonstrate peacefully, guarantee the safety of the entire community, isolating those who take to the streets only to create disorder and commit violence".
During the summit, the Interior Ministry explained, "the scenarios that could arise in the most sensitive areas of the cities affected by possible protests and mobilizations were analysed. The police forces, together with the reinforcements made available by the Interior Ministry and coordinated by the provincial public security authorities, will guarantee widespread coverage of the territory for the management of the numerous scheduled events". Minister Piantedosi renewed his appreciation for the commitment of all law enforcement operators who, even in recent weeks, "as always done in the past, have once again demonstrated the ability to manage very complex situations with intelligence, professionalism and balance".
Possible disruption is expected tomorrow for schools, transport, healthcare, public and private offices. This is a mobilization called "against the war economy imposed by the Meloni Government, against the high cost of living that is strangling the population, against the repression of young people and workers who protest for better living conditions". It will be, the unions explained, "a day of protest also in ports around the world against arms trafficking: a fighting initiative launched by several trade union organizations from real countries including USB which has now involved more than 100 ports in 17 different countries. It is time to lower prices, energy tariffs, rents and mortgages, to raise wages and to say enough to the war". All sectors are therefore involved, including the transport sector, despite the precept from the Ministry of Transport, rejected by the independent union which confirmed its abstention "taking on the sanctions which are very heavy but in the knowledge that these are illegitimate". The strike also involves agriculture, port workers and begins this evening at 9pm for railway and motorway staff while for healthcare the abstention will begin from the start of tomorrow's first shift to the end of the last.
"We believe it will be a large peaceful demonstration, it is not our intention to create confusion." This is what Pietro Cusimano of Usb Lombardia assured during the press conference in front of the University of Milan organized on the eve of the strike. Banners with slogans such as "Let's block the city from the center to the ring roads" and "General strike against high prices of living, war and rearmament" were displayed on the facades of the university. In Milan, added Cusimano, the high cost of living "is particularly evident. It has become a showcase city, an inaccessible city, almost a financial product inaccessible for anyone with a salary". The mobilization, he explained, also arose from the international dockers' strike, which attracted the support of 113 ports on five continents. "The port workers are clearly rejecting the loading and unloading of war material from ships", underlined Cusimano, speaking of an "anti-war desire widespread throughout the world". Among the demands also the request to allocate resources for military expenses to healthcare, schools, universities and public research. Elisa Caronni of Cambiare Rotta announced the participation of the students alongside the workers. "We are not intimidated by the increase in repression that this government wants to implement, but we will continue to take to the streets", he said, indicating the right to education, the high cost of living and the war among the reasons for the mobilization. "Our future must be conquered", he added, also recalling student mobilizations in other European countries.
