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Roughly 100,000 protesters marched through Rome on Saturday to say they are fed up with Italy's austerity heavy policies and climbing unemployment.

The protest was lead by major trade unions including the FIOM and CGIL, with the intention of placing pressure on the country's new Prime Minister Enrico Letta.
"We hope that this government will finally start listening to us because we are losing our patience," protester Enzo Bernardis told Reuters.
Reuters reports:
Less than a month in power, Letta is trying to hold together an uneasy coalition between his center-left Democratic party and the center-right People of Freedom, led by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Confidence in the government, cobbled together after inconclusive elections, is already falling, with one poll on Friday by the SWG institute showing its approval rating had dropped to 34 percent from 43 percent at the start of the month. [...]
Letta promised to make jobs his top priority when he came to power in April after two months of political deadlock. But several protesters complained he was not sticking to his vow, focusing instead on a property tax reform outlined this week.
The masses waved red flags and held signs reading "We can't wait anymore" and "We need money to live."
Former Prime Minster Mario Monti pushed through a slew of austerity measures including "spending cuts, tax hikes and pension reform," as Reuters reports, which in turn drove the country's recession even deeper. Jobless rates are at record highs with youth unemployment at 38 percent.
"We ask the government to change [former Prime Minister Mario] Monti's and [former Prime Minister Mario Silvio] Berlusconi's politics," said FIOM leader Maurizio Landini.
"This government will last a very short time," said demonstrator Marco Silvani. "What we need is a new leftist party that fights for the rights of the people."

_______________________
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. He is the author of Migrant Justice in the Age of Removal. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.

The protest was lead by major trade unions including the FIOM and CGIL, with the intention of placing pressure on the country's new Prime Minister Enrico Letta.
"We hope that this government will finally start listening to us because we are losing our patience," protester Enzo Bernardis told Reuters.
Reuters reports:
Less than a month in power, Letta is trying to hold together an uneasy coalition between his center-left Democratic party and the center-right People of Freedom, led by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Confidence in the government, cobbled together after inconclusive elections, is already falling, with one poll on Friday by the SWG institute showing its approval rating had dropped to 34 percent from 43 percent at the start of the month. [...]
Letta promised to make jobs his top priority when he came to power in April after two months of political deadlock. But several protesters complained he was not sticking to his vow, focusing instead on a property tax reform outlined this week.
The masses waved red flags and held signs reading "We can't wait anymore" and "We need money to live."
Former Prime Minster Mario Monti pushed through a slew of austerity measures including "spending cuts, tax hikes and pension reform," as Reuters reports, which in turn drove the country's recession even deeper. Jobless rates are at record highs with youth unemployment at 38 percent.
"We ask the government to change [former Prime Minister Mario] Monti's and [former Prime Minister Mario Silvio] Berlusconi's politics," said FIOM leader Maurizio Landini.
"This government will last a very short time," said demonstrator Marco Silvani. "What we need is a new leftist party that fights for the rights of the people."

_______________________
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. He is the author of Migrant Justice in the Age of Removal. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.

The protest was lead by major trade unions including the FIOM and CGIL, with the intention of placing pressure on the country's new Prime Minister Enrico Letta.
"We hope that this government will finally start listening to us because we are losing our patience," protester Enzo Bernardis told Reuters.
Reuters reports:
Less than a month in power, Letta is trying to hold together an uneasy coalition between his center-left Democratic party and the center-right People of Freedom, led by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Confidence in the government, cobbled together after inconclusive elections, is already falling, with one poll on Friday by the SWG institute showing its approval rating had dropped to 34 percent from 43 percent at the start of the month. [...]
Letta promised to make jobs his top priority when he came to power in April after two months of political deadlock. But several protesters complained he was not sticking to his vow, focusing instead on a property tax reform outlined this week.
The masses waved red flags and held signs reading "We can't wait anymore" and "We need money to live."
Former Prime Minster Mario Monti pushed through a slew of austerity measures including "spending cuts, tax hikes and pension reform," as Reuters reports, which in turn drove the country's recession even deeper. Jobless rates are at record highs with youth unemployment at 38 percent.
"We ask the government to change [former Prime Minister Mario] Monti's and [former Prime Minister Mario Silvio] Berlusconi's politics," said FIOM leader Maurizio Landini.
"This government will last a very short time," said demonstrator Marco Silvani. "What we need is a new leftist party that fights for the rights of the people."

_______________________