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CGIL demo 14 November From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(6 days old)
On Saturday 14 November the biggest Italian trade union federation, CGIL, held a national demonstration in Rome. While I guess that's a good thing, the slogan, 'Labour and the crisis: we demand answer… more
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Italian schools demo, Saturday 3 October From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(41 days old)
Italian teachers gather on Saturday 3 October to protest against job cuts. Fifty-seven thousand teachers employed on fixed-term contracts, many of whom have worked in the same job for years, have be… more
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Get your priorities right From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1310 days old)
Italy's supreme court has now confirmed that the centre-left won the elections. So far, so good. And what are the centre-left doing? Launching a job-creation programme to tackle Italy's massive unempl… more
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Bye bye Berlusconi From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1320 days old)
Well, barring disasters, it seems that Berlusconi has just been squeezed out of office here, though it was hardly a convincing win for Prodi. Rifondazione did well compared to the rest of the centre-l… more
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Bye bye Berlusconi From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1320 days old)
Well, barring disasters, it seems that Berlusconi has just been squeezed out of office here, though it was hardly a convincing win for Prodi. Rifondazione did well compared to the rest of the centre-l… more
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Deja vu From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1321 days old)
It is election night here. The exit polls showed a clear win for the centre-left coalition L'Unione over Berlusconi's Casa delle Liberta. But after a few hours the right began to catch up and are now … more
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Anti-war demo, 18 March From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1343 days old)
Saturday’s anti-war demo in Rome was well-attended despite the right-wing calls to stay away. After an anti-fascist protest in Milan the weekend before had finished in fighting between police and anar… more
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Cartoon minister quits From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1371 days old)
Roberto Calderoli, the Italian Minister for Reform, has resigned after wearing a t-shirt with one of the Danish Muhammad cartoons on a TV show. Newspaper reports of his antics sparked protests outside… more
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Rifondazione shenanigans From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1374 days old)
It looks very likely that tomorrow the Rifondazione majority will remove Marco Ferrando as a candidate for the Senate. Ferrando is in Progetto Comunista, the biggest Trotskyist minority in the PRC. Hi… more
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New blocking tactic on abortion pill From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1387 days old)
Okay, well, maybe I spoke too soon about the abortion row finishing. The Health Minister Francesco Storace, apparently furious that the parliamentary commission has failed to deliver the report he wan… more
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Using Blair to attack the left From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1388 days old)
We’re into full pre-election campaigning in Italy now. On the radio this morning, the Welfare Minister Roberto Maroni of the Lega Nord was doing a phone-in. A caller asked a question about job secu… more
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Abortion row ends, rather quietly From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1391 days old)
No change on abortion, for now, it seems. After all the fuss before Christmas, the commission set up to investigate the functioning of the abortion law (Law 194) has decided no change is necessary. … more
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Alitalia work-to-rule grounds flights From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1398 days old)
Unofficial action by Alitalia workers has forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights over the weekend. Despite an official strike being called off by the union leaderships, when the government agr… more
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Metalmeccanici win €100 pay rise From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1399 days old)
Italian engineering workers have won a pay rise of €100 a month. More than a year after their old contract expired, and after five one-day strikes and numerous demonstrations, management finally agree… more
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Everybody in PACS From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1406 days old)
So, yesterday I headed off to the ‘Everybody in PACS’ demo. It had been the subject of huge polemic in the papers: denounced by the right and by the pope. And not just by the right: Prodi too … more
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Scarlett O'What? From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1408 days old)
The latest DS (Left Democrats) posters feature the the wishy-washy slogan ‘Domani è un altro giorno’. Translated – ‘Tomorrow is another day’ – this has the unfortunate effect of conjuring up the incon… more
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hello from Rome From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1412 days old)
Happy New Year. I have moved to Rome - bigger, louder and generally very unlike Bologna. Slightly puzzling political start to the new year - two national demos, one in defence of abortion rights an… more
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merry christmas and some statistics From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1430 days old)
Nearly the end of the year, and I’m leaving Bologna to go to Rome. The news in Italy: after several months of banking scandals, the governor of BankItalia has finally resigned. China has overtaken Ita… more
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Football fascists From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1439 days old)
Footballer Paolo di Canio is in trouble for doing what’s called a ‘Roman salute’ – that’s a fascist salute to you and me – at the Lazio/Livorno match the other day. Lazio’s notorious for its fascist f… more
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all legal now From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1440 days old)
Well, as of this morning I have my official permit to stay in Italy – notwithstanding the supposedly free European labour market, there’s still a three-month wait to get the paperwork done. As far as … more
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condom craziness From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1448 days old)
First crazy thing: a member of Berlusconi's government, the Equal Opportunities minister, has made a sensible suggestion. She says that in order to reduce the number of women having abortions, perhaps… more
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metalworkers' strike From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1450 days old)
There's a national strike of engineering workers (metalmeccanici) in Italy today, and a demonstration in Rome. You can read their demands here in English on the Fiom/CGIL union website.… more
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Bishops and abortion latest From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1451 days old)
Latest on abortion – in a concession to the bishops, the government has announced a parliamentary inquiry into the functioning of the abortion law (Law 194). This was proposed by the Union of the Cent… more
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back to whinging bishops From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1452 days old)
Back in Italy this week - and back to cardinals and bishops banging on about the 'grave problem' of abortion. Not, that is, the grave problems facing women who decide they need an abortion. No, accord… more
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taking a break From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1464 days old)
No bellaciao until the end of the month - I'm taking a break. Back in late November.… more
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Bologna - immigrants evicted From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1465 days old)
Dozens of Romanian immigrants are being bulldozed out of their camp in Bologna today, after the mayor Sergio Cofferati (Left Democrats) got his new 'law and order' policy through the council here. … more
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Another Europe? From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1469 days old)
Went along this weekend to the ‘Assembly on the Charter of Principles of Another Europe’ in Florence. This is a meeting of various individuals and groups involved in the European Social Forum, who… more
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End of Rockpolitik From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1471 days old)
Last edition of ‘Rockpolitik’ on TV last night – no shortage of controversy still. Sabina Guzzanti (whose own show was taken off air a couple of years ago for being too anti-Berlusconi) was a guest. S… more
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journalists - more strikes From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1475 days old)
More strikes this week - newspaper journalists tomorrow and Wednesday; TV journalists Wednesday and Thursday, over the breakdown of contract negotiations.… more
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Abortion pill - trial back on From
bellaciao
in Bella Ciao
(1475 days old)
And a small piece of good news - earlier on I wrote about how the Health Minister had suspended a pilot project to offer the abortion pill at a hospital in Turin. The project is now back on (with not … more