Workers Rally in Turin Over Low Wages and High Prices

Report and photos by Phil Pasquini

Turin: As has happened all over Europe the past few weeks, a massive protest took place October 17 in this city concerning the high costs of living that have appreciably escalated since the US-Iran war. The protest and march were organized by the Coordination Against Low Salaries, Women Wokers, and the COBAS (Confederazione Dei Comitati Da Base) Trade Union who accused the Italian government and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of doing nothing about their pleas regarding the continued erosion of wages and the high cost of living.

 During the rally preceding the march as a large contingent of riot police stood by, several people spoke forcibly regarding the impact the present economic situation has had on their lives. One woman said “I look at my mother and weep” when describing the  precarious family situation of her 53-year-old mother with only a middle-school education, whose earnings barely cover fuel costs  to fill her car without which she is unable to work, sending her family into a downward economic spiral.

A common theme among the activists and union workers was the issue of dignity as work is widely regarded as a source of identity. They stressed the immediate need for their wages to be raised in a race to maintain a viable standard of living, complaining specifically of the difficulty that wage earners are having in raising a family, providing food, paying rent, transportation, healthcare, and utilities with rising costs and frozen wages. The groups announced their united campaign in their struggle for the realization of achieving a minimum wage of 12€ an hour ($13.48).

Saying that they “keep society going every day through their labor,” they are now “at the end of their rope,” noting they have no leisure time needed “to recover from the stress of our social and working lives.”

Among those listening and participating in the protest were many students in solidarity with the workers along with ordinary citizens drawn to the protest to express their frustration regarding the lack of concern by the government and increased costs they face daily. This can directly be attributed to the “spillover” effects of the wars in the Middle East that is being felt around the world.

In expressing their sentiments, many held signs on various personal aggravations and concerns regarding, among others, solidarity with students, racism, the genocide in Gaza, and immigration. One sign regarding immigration called for the destruction of The Repatriation Permanence Centers (CPR). In Italy, immigrants to be deported to their countries of origin on average are confined for 38 days in any one of ten facilities.

Prospects for a resolution to this economic and social upheaval seem far off presently with the stalemate in these forever wars and its increased effect on dwindling fuel that drives prices up in global economies. Even if it was possible to end the wars and reverse the trend, it will take some time before world stability can be sustained. And even then, we will all have to face a new normal as a result.

(Phil Pasquini is a freelance journalist and photographer. His reports and photographs appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Countercurrents, LAProgressive and Nuze.ink. He is the author of Domes, Arches and Minarets: A History of Islamic-Inspired Buildings in America.)