Labour unions CUB (Confedarazione Unitaria di Base), COBAS (Confederazione dei comitati di base) and SdL (Sindacato dei Lavorati Intercategoriale) have declared a general strike Friday 17 October which will mainly affect transport and public sanitation services.

Buses, tram and metro lines, as well as local railway services on the Roma-Lido di Ostia, Roma Laziali-Giardinetti and Roma-Viterbo lines, will come to halt between 08.30 and 16.30. Bus drivers on interregional Cotral lines will also participate in the strike. For more information tel. 0657003.

Rail services will be interrupted between 09.00 and 17.00, although train station employees will be on strike for the entire day, increasing the possibility of delays. For more information see www.trenitalia.it or tel. 892021 (€0.54 per minute plus €0.30 service fee).

Air transport personnel will strike from 10.00 to 18.00. For more information regarding delays and cancellations at Ciampino or Fiumicino airports see www.adr.it.

Over 700,000 doctors, nurses, laboratory and administrative personnel of private and public clinics will also be on strike Friday 17 October, protesting against national budget cuts and demanding fair wages.

The strike action is to be accompanied by a protest march through central Rome, starting from Piazza della Repubblica at 10.00 and heading towards Piazza S. Giovanni in Laterano by way of Termini station, Piazza S. Maria Maggiore and Via Merulana.