Italian workers strike in protest over Berlusconi’s austerity measures

A NATIONWIDE strike against austerity measures brought Italy to a near-halt yesterday, piling pressure on Silvio Berlusconi’s government as it tries to convince nervous markets that it can produce and enforce a credible deficit-cutting plan.

Workers for the state railway, city transit systems and ferry services all were on strike for periods.

Late yesterday, the government got a sorely needed boost when Italy’s main industrial lobby Confindustria voiced support for the latest version of the flip-flopping austerity plan, which among other things would increase the IVA sales tax to 21% from 20%.