Thousands of workers from all over Italy gathered in Rome's Piazza della Repubblica on Friday, calling for the renewal of national collective agreements for public sectors and protesting against job cuts.Ignoring rain showers, the protester rallied in the historic piazza to urge the government to change its politics in favour of public employees. We don't want pensioners and public employees to pay for the economic crisis. We don't agree with job cuts in the school system. We ask for an increase in both salaries and pensions. We ask for a basic salary for people who don't have a job, said Piero Bernocchi, secretary of a minor trade union, COBAS.Both workers and the unions want to put pressure on Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right government to get more rights. The rally was led by minor trade unions aiming at gaining more democracy in the public sector. The national protest took place alongside a nation-wide transport strike expected to last 24 hours.
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