 Unions say reforms hit their members without promoting growth |
Workers across Italy have held rallies in more than 50 cities as part of a half-day general strike over the government's pension reform plans. Italy's three main unions, which called the strike, say they also want new economic policies to fight stagnation.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government says it needs to raise the male retirement age from 57 to 60 to ease strain on a burdened economy.
But unions argue keeping people in the workforce is not the answer.
Public transport, schools, banks, factories and some larger retailer outlets came to a standstill for four hours or more in many Italian cities on Friday.
The BBC's Frances Kennedy in Rome says the streets and piazzas of Italian cities were filled with protestors waving red, green and white flags and chanting anti-government slogans. She says people from a wide cross-section of society - salaried workers, students, pensioners, families and the unemployed - joined the rallies.
In Milan, the strike forced opera house La Scala to cancel its Friday performance of Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda.
But airline workers, who are planning similar action on 5 April, did not join the stoppage.
Speaking at a rally in Sicily's capital, Palermo, the leader of Italy's biggest union said the strike was "a response to the government to say they've got it wrong, about everything".
"For the past 36 months the country has been at a standstill, the longest industrial stagnation of the post-war era," said CGIL leader Guglielmo Epifani.
'No room to manoeuvre'
But the centre-right government argues it cannot allow the state pensions scheme to continue to swallow about 15% of GDP.
 | ITALY'S PENSIONS DILEMMA |
It says low birth rates and an ageing population make a generous system unsustainable. Mr Berlusconi's government argues its reform plans would save the state budget 0.7% of GDP annually, providing relief for one of Europe's most indebted economies.
European Affairs Minister Rocco Buttiglione said there was no more room to manoeuvre over the pensions bill.
"The government has significantly modified its original proposal to take into account as much as possible the unions' concerns," he said.
The government's original proposals were watered down after a first strike in October and protests by 250,000 workers in Rome in December.
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For the past 36 months the country has been at a standstill, the longest industrial stagnation of the post-war era 
