You may be hearing about the growing strikes and protests in Italy. Much of it hasn’t been reported, not even here in Italy, but that’s changing as the situation expands.
First, for those who saw my Instagram posts: There was a mix-up with my hotel booking, so I had to check out of my hotel in Bologna on Saturday afternoon without another place to stay. Bologna was booked, so I left for Naples that night instead of the next morning. I was upset about the whole thing until I saw the news the next morning that student protests sparked by the protests in France had turned into chaos, particularly at the Bologna train station, just one or two hours after my train departed. There had also been violent clashes with the police and looting in Milan, where I had been a few days before.
Meanwhile, major protests led by truck drivers and farmers were underway throughout southern Italy, with almost no media coverage abroad and not much of it in Italy. Today, just as I am in the middle of hosting a tour based on Ep. 35: The Mozzarella Highway, the Financial Times reported that “Italy is facing a shortage of fresh buffalo mozzarella after nearly a week of highway blockades by truck drivers disrupted milk deliveries in the south of the country.”
But this is also a silly article because supermarkets throughout southern Italy, all the way up to Rome, are empty of everything, not just mozzarella, and people are waiting in line for gas, which is in short supply.
Before I go any further, please know we are just fine. We’re well taken care of, surrounded by farms with plenty of food; safety isn't even a vague concern, and we just spent the day baking the most beautiful bread and pizza. But I’ve never peddled a fake dolce vita Italy, which is why I think it’s important to share what’s happening because it matters for the rest of the world. Italy may not seem like a major player on the international chess board right now, but remember that COVID first hit Europe in Italy.
The primary reason for the strikes is fuel prices. Though southern Italian strikes are more directly tied to diesel prices, fuel prices are also linked to the protests in France, Milan, and Bologna because daily life has become untenably expensive. The movement directly calls it out — caro vita.
The truckers’ stoppage began in Sicily on October 16th, after diesel prices jumped when the fixed excise discount ended on October 6th. Calabria’s regional logistics federation began its own stoppage the same day, over the same fuel costs. Also in Calabria, bakers in the Cosenza area closed their shops over the price of raw materials and pressure from large retailers.
In Puglia, workers at the steelworks in Taranto went on strike on October 12th after a court confirmed the shutdown of the plant’s hot area. The company also announced it would temporarily stop operations at its Genoa and Novi Ligure sites by November 15th. The workers blocked access to the Eni oil refinery and the main roads around it, causing fuel shortages in Puglia, Basilicata, and Calabria. They ended the blockade on October 16th. Meanwhile, the price of olive oil in Bari has fallen to about half of last year’s level, even as production costs have risen. Growers blame cheaper imported oil, and so the farmers have joined the truckers in the strike.
As of this Wednesday evening, talks with Matteo Salvini, the Vice President of the Council of Ministers, have failed, and the strikes will continue. The shortages have now spread to Campania, including Naples, and are being reported around Rome, with long lines to get gas that is running out. But supermarkets across Basilicata, Puglia, and Sicily have been empty for over a week, with few updates on TG1, Italy's main news channel. Yesterday, a friend in Florence had no idea what was happening in the south because few in the centro-nord were talking about it. Yet there was extensive reporting on fear and outrage over the looting in Milan. Whether you sit on the right or the left side of the political spectrum, I encourage you to be reserved and skeptical about your opinion because selective reporting is a good enough reason to pause and look at the larger situation.
Last week I was discussing the Italian economy with my friend in Milan, and he told me Italians are absolutely ashamed of their economic situation and low salaries, but they don’t protest like the French; they always try to keep the bella figura. So I find it both brave and refreshing that the truckers and farmers are directly calling out what everyone is experiencing.
Working people simply can't keep absorbing this caro vita.
Thank you. Very informative article.
Thank you for covering this!