Strike and marches on the Black Friday protest promoted by USB which is bringing a heterogeneous group of demonstrators to dozens of Italian squares. Students and pensioners, trade unions, ProPal and antagonists will march against high prices of living and rearmament. Alert in particular in cities already the scene of clashes and devastation in recent weeks: garrisoned center in Milan, armored Colosseum, strict measures in Bologna and Turin. 'We will isolate the violent', says the Interior Ministry. The students' mothers also parade in Bologna. Salvini also prescribes drivers but the ports are also at risk of being blocked: those of Trieste, Genoa and Livorno are manned by 'anti-war' workers.
Demonstration in Aosta, students in front of the Palazzo della Regione.
Vicenza, organizers '3 injured among the demonstrators'. Three participants in the Vicenza march were reportedly injured, including one hit on the head by a tear gas canister, in tensions with the police that occurred near the ring road. The organizers of the parade announced it. Heading towards the ring road and attempting to force the blockade of the police, the procession was blocked with water cannons.
Thousands in the square in Palermo.
Tensions in Mestre after attempted breakthrough by the march. Moments of tension in Mestre (Venice) during the procession of students and workers on the Venetian mainland. Having reached the base of the overpass leading towards Venice, the demonstrators were blocked by a police cordon in riot gear. An attempt to break through to the head of the procession was stopped with some truncheon strikes from the police. After about a minute the procession regrouped and stopped.
Protesters in Turin: 'We are more than 50,000'. "We are more than 50,000." This was shouted by one of the speakers on the van opening the Turin march for the general strike. An event where the banner also parades in support of the mobilization launched in recent hours by dockworkers in 22 countries around the world. 'Dockworkers do not workshop for war', the writing on the banner that was hung on the parapet of the Mosca bridge during a break in the demonstration. "The dockers' strike - say the demonstrators - scares the governments because when the weapons don't move, the goods stop, the workers show all their power. Today we demonstrate that united workers, if they fight together, can change the fate of things, they can say that there is a conscience that says no to genocide, to oppression, to rearmament and says yes to school, to work, to healthcare, to the future".
In Cosenza, students and workers in procession, including tractors. Over 1,500 students and workers gathered this morning in Piazza Loreto, in Cosenza, to join the general strike called by USB. Students, school and university teachers, farmers with their tractors, lorry drivers, small entrepreneurs, activists and trade unionists marched in the procession.
In Palermo, 2 thousand students and workers in the streets. Just over two thousand people, including students, workers and grassroots unions, are taking part in the general strike in Palermo against high prices of living, war and rearmament, launched by the grassroots union USB throughout Italy. The procession has just left from Piazza Castelnuovo to reach the port. The school's acronyms and the agitated students who joined the strike are protesting for the state of school buildings. Among the demands also the increase in funds allocated to public health. The demonstrators display banners and signs to denounce the increase in prices of basic necessities, rents and bills, while contesting the government's rearmament policies. "Income and health for all, the rich will pay for the crisis", is one of the participants' banners. The public order situation is monitored by the police and at the moment there are no reports of tension.
In Milan, hundreds are already in the square, the route of the students' procession changes. Several hundred students are gathering in Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, in front of the Milan Polytechnic, for the demonstration as part of today's general strike against high costs of living, rearmament and for the right to education. In addition to the student collectives, various entities are taking part in the event, including the Lambretta social centre, Potere al Popolo and the Cub union. In the square, flags of Palestine, Albania and Cuba. "We're taking back the city. Let's make a mess, let's be heard. Let's take to the streets against the high cost of living", is the appeal launched from the microphones. Among the banners displayed "The real disorder is injustice", "The problem is not the foreigner but the education that is failing", "Let's take back the future" and "drink Peroni and hate Meloni". The route of the procession, according to what has been learned, has been modified compared to the initial indications: the demonstrators will proceed towards Via Bonardi, Viale Romagna, Piazzale Piola, Via Ampere, and will meet with the workers' procession in Piazza Durante and not, as was expected, in Piazzale Loreto.
In Turin, manure in front of the town hall. Two manure bins were overturned in front of the Turin town hall before the start of the general strike demonstration. Piazza Palazzo di Città is the meeting and starting point of the procession. "They have tried in every way to block this strike - says the speaker from the van at the head of the procession - but today this square, together with dozens of others in Italy, sends the attempts to repress us back to the sender. And to the future of m... that they want to give us, we respond with other m...".
In Naples, students, workers and families took to the streets. Several thousand people gathered in the Piazza Mancini area in Naples, a few meters from the central station of Piazza Garibaldi, where the demonstration against the high cost of living and the rearmament policy has just started, which coincides with the general strike called by the grassroots union USB. University students and delegations from schools in Naples were present. Together with them the workers and also many families with children. In the center of the square, on the statue depicting Garibaldi, a large banner has been unrolled and affixed which reads "you don't change things with kindness". There is a massive presence of the police to ensure safety and to avoid the risk that the procession could deviate, creating inconvenience at the crucial public transport hubs. On this front at the moment there are no critical issues, for "reasons of public order" the Garibaldi station of the metro line 1 was closed for about an hour, which was reopened a short while ago.
In Turin, shoving between police and independent protesters. Pushing between police and autonomous demonstrators during the demonstration promoted as part of the USB general strike in Turin. It happened in via Rossini, near via Po, where the procession of students, teachers, ATA and USB staff is marching. A group of demonstrators managed to 'force' the police blockade which prevented them from passing and rejoining the main procession. The officers then moved away a few hundred meters. The demonstration is now continuing without further tension.
In Pisa, a procession with over 2,000 people. At least 2,000 demonstrators marched in Pisa in the procession promoted by USB on the occasion of the general strike "against processions and high prices". Many radical left acronyms joined the demonstration, with hundreds of high school students taking part. The procession is peacefully crossing the main streets of the center and will also reach the Aurelia and then return to the center via the Arno river.
In Rome, student concentrations begin, the first groups heading towards Termini. The gatherings of students began around 8am in front of La Sapienza University and various schools in the capital. The first groups are heading, monitored by the police, towards Piazza dei Cinquecento - in front of Termini station - from which the procession organized by USB will start. The demonstrators will parade through the streets of the historic center towards the Imperial Forums. They will travel along Piazza Indipendenza, Porta Pia, Via XX Settembre and Via Cavour. Maximum attention throughout the area and in particular at the Colosseum - where some protesters entered last Saturday - and at Circo Massimo which houses the Defense Village. At the moment the Flavian Amphitheater and Termini station are open as usual. The metro lines are in operation, while buses and trams are diverted along the route of the procession.
Regular transport in Naples. No inconvenience in Naples for transport. At the moment the movement of trains, buses and the metro is regular. Following the injunction issued by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, the strike called by USB was postponed by some companies such as ANM, for example. There are also regular connections from nearby municipalities ensured by companies such as Sita Sud and Air Campania.
In Milan the metro lines remain open. The general transport strike proclaimed by Usb against the high cost of living, the high cost of energy and rearmament has not yet had any consequences on public transport in Milan: the abstention - which was followed by precept by the minister Matteo Salvini - was proclaimed from 8.45am to 3pm and from 6pm to the end of service. The ATM, the Milanese transport company, reports that the subways are regular as are surface transport. However, for buses, trolleybuses and trams there could be deviations in the routes linked to the various demonstrations planned by the union, students and proPal. Since the early morning the city has been armored by the police: in several points of the city various garrisons have been implemented to prevent the planned demonstrations from degenerating as happened on 17 and 18 October last.
In Turin, a thousand in procession started from Palazzo Nuovo. Over a thousand high school and university students, together with ATA teachers and staff, left this morning from Palazzo Nuovo, in Turin, in the center and home of the humanities faculties, to reach Piazza Palazzo di Città and join the workers on the occasion of the general strike. At the head of the procession was the banner 'From North to South: students and workers united. We don't pay for the war. Another procession is about to leave from the Einaudi university campus which has been occupied since Monday. The student group moved around 9.20 am from the headquarters of the humanities faculties of the University of Turin. In the procession banners and flags of Cambiare Rotta, Osa, Usb and Cub. A banner with the words "University against war" was hung in front of the entrance to Palazzo Nuovo. "Today is a historic day because for years they have tried to divide ATA students, teachers and staff - explains a spokesperson for the Osa collective -. Today we can change the course and we can say that the money must go to the school and not to the war. Today we travel this path together". "For years they told us that history was over and that we had to surrender, today we students, teachers and ATA staff demonstrate that we can take back history and wrest our future from the hands of the leaders who want us to go to war", said the protesters into the megaphone.
In Trieste, several hundred demonstrators at the entrance to the port. Around 500 people have currently gathered in front of Gate 4 of the port of Trieste from where the procession scheduled for this morning will start in about an hour, organized in continuity with the national strike called by the USB to contest the increase in the cost of living, the loss of purchasing power of wages and pensions and in opposition to the policies of war and rearmament. Many people, many in large groups, continue to gather in the area to take part in the demonstration. There is a large representation of students, with numerous banners. The vehicle of the USB union is also already on site and should be at the head of the procession. Many flags are flying, also favored by the Bora day; many are USB-based. The crowd is gathering near the access to the port, from where the mobilization will officially begin. Once started, the procession will head towards the city center.
In Calabria regular trains at the start of the day. No canceled trains and some delays of between 5 and 20 minutes on some routes, mainly long-distance, at the beginning of the day on the boards of the main railway stations in Calabria. The general strike called by USB also in the transport sector was ordered in recent days by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Matteo Salvini.
Trains to Bologna are regular at the beginning of the morning. In the early morning the boards with arrivals and departures at Bologna station showed no canceled trains and very few delays. The general strike called by Usb also in the transport sector was in fact ordered in recent days by Minister Matteo Salvini and Trenitalia guaranteed the service, subject to individual participation by railway staff. Even in the city the buses seem to run quite regularly.
In Bologna, the entrances to several high schools were blocked. The protest on the day of the strike begins in Bologna with the blocking of entrances to some high schools. Groups of students closed access to the Copernico High School, the Minghetti High School, the Fermi High School, the Arcangeli High School, the Laura Bassi High School and the Righi High School and the Serpieri Agricultural Institute. At Galvani, in via Castiglione, bins have been placed in front of the entrance doors. The marches have already started from some schools and should join the one leaving at 9.30 from the main square of the basic unions. In the center several shopkeepers have installed or are installing panels to protect their shop windows, for example in Galleria Cavour.
In Livorno USB stations in the port area. The USB demonstrations in Ponte Genova in the port area had already begun in Livorno, around 6am, for the general strike over high prices of living, low wages and against rearmament. "There were already a lot of people at 6 in the morning", they say from the grassroots union. In addition to the protests at the port gates, a demonstration with a procession will take place in the city as part of the protest, starting around 9am from the central Piazza Cavour and then marching along the Azeglio ports.
