Italy hit by strikes

The action by airline staff caused delays

ROME, Italy -- A wave of strikes have hit Italy, with marches by metalworkers and action by pilots, flight attendants and air traffic controllers.

More than 100,000 workers took part in the strikes on Friday with the biggest protests in Milan, where an estimated 60,000 members of the FIOM metalworkers' union paraded through the streets, Reuters reported.

Metalworkers, Italy's most powerful labour group with more than 1.5 million workers, are demanding pay rises.

In Turin, more than 30,000 workers downed tools, disrupting production at several major plants including the Fiat automobile group. Other marches were held in Rome, Bologna, Florence, Genoa and several southern cities including Palermo in Sicily.

The air strike caused some airlines to cancel flights into Italy as air traffic controllers from CILA-AV and other unions took action for 10 hours and some Alitalia flight attendants and pilots for eight hours.

The metalworkers' stoppages follow strikes in May when some 50,000 held a half-day protest over employers' failure to offer further concessions in the current round of wage negotiations.

Metalworkers form the largest group among 5.5 million Italian workers -- 46 percent of all wage contracts negotiated at the national level -- who have yet to strike pay deals for this year.

Economists say this year's wage deals are likely to push up inflation moderately, said Reuters.

They could also produce an early headache for the centre-right government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who during the election campaign promised to create 1.5 million jobs over five years.