The Italian fuel protests are having a devastating impact on the Italian economy underlining the importance of road transport on the eve of the threatened UK protests planned for this weekend.
A third day of Italian truck strikes has passed with no agreement reached between union leaders and government and a government deadline for Tuesday night went unregarded. However two of the main unions have said they will suspend strikes although others have vowed to maintain the roadblocks until Sunday. The strike, which is centred on roads and refineries in Rome, is costing Italy E210m a day. Shops are emptying rapidly and the strike is disrupting food supplies. Retailers are now worried that they will not be able to restock their shelves before Christmas.
Fuel deliveries have been receiving police escorts although consumers have been restricted to E20 purchases.
Reuters claims that 80% of fuel stations have run dry. The fuel protests follow a huge transport strike on November 30 which brought all transport modes to a halt in Italy. Prices of diesel on Italian forecourts had gone up by 9.5 cents against the EuroZone average, giving it a price of E1.286/lit against a UK price of just over £1 or E1.446/lit.
