ROME - A national strike organized by independent unions to protest austerity measures hit both public and private transportation across Italy Friday.

Trains, subways, ferries and buses were idle for a 24-hour walk out. National level workers of unions: di base Usb, Cib-Unicobas, Snater, Sicobas and Usi were participating in addition to crew members, pilots and flight attendants of Meridiana Fly. In Lombardy, the staffs of Sea, Milan's Linate and Malpensa airports and some fire department members.

In both the capital and Milan large transport demonstrations of workers and unemployed marched through the cities, snarling traffic. In Milan, as many as 20,000 people were participating in the demonstration. The actions are protesting government reforms designed to cut debt and balance the budget.

 Prime Minister Mario Monti has raised taxes and cut spending in effort to cut Italy’s 1.95 trillion euros in debt.

Emilia Romagna is not participating due to its current earthquake-recovery state.

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