thousands march in Rome to protest against workplace vaccine rule | Economic news

By FRANCES D’EMILIO, Associated Press

ROME (AP) – Thousands of demonstrators marched through Rome’s famous Via Veneto and other streets on Saturday, some making their way into a union office and clashing with police as they protested against the new demand Italy’s “Green Pass” vaccination for employees to enter their offices.

Certification is mandatory from October 15 and applies to public and private workplaces. Employees and employers face fines if they do not comply. Public sector workers can be suspended if they show up five times without a Green Pass. The pass is already required in Italy to enter museums, theaters, gymnasiums and indoor restaurants, as well as to take long-distance trains and buses or domestic flights.

The passes show that a person has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, or has recovered from the virus in the past six months, or has tested negative in the past 48 hours.

Protesters first staged a loud and authorized protest on Saturday in Piazza Del Popolo in Rome. Then they left the vast square and clashed with the police as they walked through Villa Borghese park and down Via Veneto on an unauthorized march.

A few hundred protesters broke up and made their way to another street in Rome’s main historic shopping district that ends near Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s office at Chigi Palace. The police formed a line, aided by police vans, and sprayed water to prevent access to the seat of the Italian government.

Police swung some protesters with batons. Many protesters on the front lines outside Chigi Palace raised their arms to indicate non-violence as they clashed with the police. Others raised their fists or waved Italian flags and shouted “Freedom! A banner read “Get your hands off (our) work.”

Rai State TV said there were at least 10,000 protesters, while organizers claimed 100,000 people. At least one protester was injured, RAI said. Among the protesters were supporters of a far-right group, Forza Nuova, Italian media reported.

It is “obvious that neo-fascist groups are hiding behind the so-called anti-vaccines,” said Interior Minister’s Under-Secretary Carlo Sibilia.

Some demonstrators, armed with sticks and metal bars, forced their way into the headquarters of CGIL, a left-wing union, and ransacked its office. Major Italian trade union federations have backed the Green Pass requirement as a way to keep factories and other workplaces safe during the pandemic, which has hit the Italian economy.

Draghi, meanwhile, pledged to continue the government’s vaccination campaign.

“The right to express one’s ideas can never degenerate into acts of aggression and intimidation,” Draghi said in a statement. He denounced as unacceptable any form of intimidation against trade unions, which he described as “the fundamental garrison of democracy”.

“We will not be intimidated,” tweeted Federico D’Inca, parliamentary relations minister for the 5-star populist movement.

Draghi’s government attributed the Green Pass requirement for workplaces to a recent wave of vaccinations. On Saturday, 80% of people 12 and older in Italy – those eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine – were fully vaccinated.

Right-wing leader Matteo Salvini, whose League party is a partner of Draghi’s vast coalition, pleaded on Saturday to partially relax the Green Pass measure.

“Extending the minimum duration of the Green Pass from 48 to 72 hours,” Salvini tweeted, calling it a measure to “avoid chaos”.

AP TV producer Francesco Sportelli contributed to this report.

Follow all of AP’s stories about the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic.

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