(Rome, 26 October 2007) Up to two million Italian public sector workers held an eight-hour strike on Friday in protest against cuts in public spending in the country’s latest budget. Thousands marched through the streets of Rome in steady drizzle, holding union flags and banners attacking Prime Minister Romano Prodi’s budget and poor job stability in Italy. Local news agencies estimated that as many as two million public employees stopped work and more than 100,000 took part in the street protest. The budget, approved by the cabinet last month, cuts business taxes and spending on public services, mainly on civil service bureaucracy, by about 5 billion euros. Unions fear too little has been set aside to pay for new civil service contracts. Nurses, firemen and clerical staff were among those who took part in the stoppage, but there were no reports of serious disruption to public services. "Today’s strike is a very strong response to the government and its forgetfulness," said Paolo Nerozzi of the CGIL union, accusing Prodi of failing to make good on pay rises promised earlier in the year. "We have a government hanging in balance before us," Nerozzi said, referring to chronic infighting in Prodi’s nine-party coalition.