Italy braces for two national strikes as union rivalry heats up

By Gavin Jones and Anna Uras

ROME (Reuters) -Italy faces two competing nationwide strikes over the next few weeks as rivalry between trade unions resumes, ending a rare alliance that last month powered one of the country's largest worker protests in years.

The hardline Union Sindacale di Base (USB) has called a strike for all its members on November 28, followed by a national demonstration in Rome the following day in protest against Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's 2026 budget and her government's support for Israel.

The more mainstream CGIL, Italy's largest union, on Friday also announced a nationwide strike over the budget, but scheduled it for December 12.

The CGIL has some 5 million members, almost half of whom are pensioners. The smaller, more militant USB does not publish membership figures.

Both organisations criticise the budget's planned increases in defence spending and say it fails to invest sufficiently in public services, but they have little else in common.

HUGE GAZA PROTEST

Meloni has called the budget "serious, balanced and responsible." She points to its income tax cuts for middle-earners and has said that by often striking on Fridays workers are merely seeking a longer weekend break.

Recent years have seen the emergence of USB as an aggressive grass-roots union which is challenging the traditional dominance of the three main confederations, the leftwing CGIL and the centrist CISL and UIL.

The UIL and CISL are planning their own protests against the budget, respectively on November 29 and December 13, but no strikes.

The USB and the CGIL joined forces on October 3 to lead a general strike in support of Gaza which brought hundreds of thousands of people to the streets, blocked highways and trains, and disrupted maritime shipments to and from Israel for days.

However, hopes among workers of a lasting alliance in defence of Italian jobs and pay claims have proved short-lived.

USB GAINING MEMBERS WITH MORE RADICAL STANCE

The USB, which says its membership is rising sharply, accuses the CGIL of signing wage deals it opposes, and is keen to mark out more radical positions than its larger partner.

"We want salaries of at least 2,000 euros per month, a retirement age of 62 (compared with the current 67), and government guarantees regarding public housing and services," it said in a statement on Tuesday.

It said climate activist Greta Thunberg and the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Palestinian rights Francesca Albanese would be at its Italian protests, which have also been publicly supported by former Pink Floyd leader Roger Waters, an outspoken critic of Israel.

Guido Lutrario, a member of the USB's national executive, told Reuters there had been no official contact between the two unions to try to coordinate their strike action.

He accused the CGIL of trying to boycott previous USB strikes, and said it only joined the October 3 general strike to avoid missing out on what was shaping up as a huge USB success on the back of public outrage over Gaza.

The CGIL did not respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Anna Uras, editing by Alvise Armellini)