Italy braces for general strike

Millions of workers across Italy are set to walk off the job in a general strike on Tuesday, answering a call from the country's main unions to protest against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's economic policies. Factories and offices across the country are expected to shut down as public service workers observe an eight-hour strike.
Travellers face a day of chaos with airport and rail workers services set to observe a four-hour stoppage from 0800 GMT. Alitalia said it had cancelled 136 flights.
Protests are scheduled in some 70 cities and towns, from the Alpine north to Sicily in the south, with the biggest gatherings expected in Rome, Milan, Turin, Bologna and Venice.
The demonstration in Naples will be combined with a protest against the local mafia, known as the Camorra, after a turf war in the southern port city claimed its 116th victim at the weekend.
Tuesday's will be the fifth general strike, affecting most of Italy's 23 million workforce, in the past two years.
Guglielmo Epifani, leader of the biggest union, the left-wing CGIL, branded Berlusconi "a Robin Hood in reverse, taking from the poorest to give to the richest" in the 2005 budget, agreed earlier this month by the lower house of parliament.
However, the centre-right government received a timely boost Monday with an opinion poll showing a 6.0 percentage point surge in popularity after announcing a plan to cut 6.5 billion in tax in the 2005 budget.
The poll published in Corriere della Sera showed government support up to 38.2 percent from 31.9 percent a fortnight ago.
Medical staff in the public health services will observe an eight-hour strike, halting non-elective surgery, laboratory analysis, and x-rays - while private clinics will stop work for four-hours.
Post offices will be shut for the entire day, while banks are expected to open for only a few hours in the afternoon.
The country's main newspapers will not be published Tuesday, due to a print-workers strike Monday.
Epifani told the left-leaning La Repubblica daily that the strike was to protest "the choices of this government which is grabbing the last lifeboat - taxes - to avoid sinking".
"The government has cut public investment, especially in the Mezzorgiono (Italy's south). Cuts in education, health, security ... will ultimately compromise growth. This government thinks public spending is synonymous with waste and not with development.