Cost of living strike rages on in southern Italy leaving supermarkets empty

ROME - Lorry drivers and farmers in southern Italy were still on strike on Wednesday, as the effects of their protest began to make their way to the North of the country.

 Over the last week, while students were holding protests up and down the country against poor educational funding, lack of affordable housing and the extortionate cost of living, simultaneously farmers and lorry drivers began protesting over the cost of living and high diesel prices. 

  Today it was reported in Fatto that both the A1 Milano-Napoli and A30 Caserta-Salerno were still being blocked by queues of lorries and tractors on both sides of the motorway, allowing cars to pass through one lane. Further south in Calabria, Puglia and Sicily the effects of these strikes were already being felt as videos of empty supermarkets began to flood social media. After five days of continued protest nearly all fresh produce has disappeared from supermarkets with il Messaggero noting that the situation appeared to be particularly critical in Caserta, north of Naples and the disruption has begun to spread to Lazio, where supermarket managers in Latina have warned that the continuity of service would depend on the outcome of upcoming deliveries. 

 The effects of the strike were becoming more and more noticeable after each day and the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called a cabinet meeting on Thursday to dicuss the problem. According to a source inside Palazzo Chigi, quoted in il Corriere della Sera, "law enforcement officers have already escorted approximately 500 lorry drivers [off the roads]. This service [removal of protestors] will be provided to anyone who requests it, allowing them to continue working safely. The government reiterates its firm commitment to guaranteeing everyone's rights and combating all criminal and delinquent conduct."

This comes after it was reported early wednesday evening that 71 police report and 242 sanctions have already been put in place against the protesting farmers and drivers with Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida, as reported to the Italian media, alledging that there are "clear cases of criminal infiltration" within the protests. Earlier in the day Lollobrigida alleged that strike leaders' CVs contained "criminal records" and appeared to suggest that this was why they seek to "create problems for the community".

 Palazzo Chigi, after five days of continued strikes, has yet to issue a comment on the complaints upheld by strikers but has firmly condemned the protests as both criminal and disruptive.

og