Port workers in Italy set for strike action over retroactive pay freeze

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Port authority employees in Italy are taking strike action next week in a dispute over a government pay freeze that is being backdated.

The workers, represented by the Federazione Italiana Lavoratori Trasporti FILT-CGIL, Federazione Italiana Trasporti-CISL and Unione Italiana dei Lavoratori dei Trasporti (UILTRASPORTI), have called for a strike of port authority employees on 5 December 2012. They are demanding that the government reverse its decision to freeze workers’ pay as part of austerity measures. The move not only contravenes the wage hike stipulated in the collective bargaining agreement but also forces workers to pay back the increases they received since January 2012.