Strike Cancels 140 Flights at Rome's Fiumicino Airport

Firefighters participate in a rally in central Rome, Italy, 18 October 2013. The protest comes as part of a 24-hour nationwide strike called by trade unions USB, COBAS and CUB to protest against government austerity policies. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Italian capital's Fiumicino airport said 143 flights have been canceled on Friday as baggage handlers and civil air transport staff joined a massive trike against economic austerity in Rome.

Firefighters, steel workers, civil servants and students were among a few thousand people who took part in the protest march through central Rome.

Partial transport strikes across the country cancelled dozens of flights, caused delays in bus and train schedules.

"We're giving money to the bankers! We're like a car going down a cliff," Paolo Ferrero, leader of the Communist Refoundation party, said at a demonstration by the USB union association in Rome.

The Italian government is planning more cuts as the country is battling a second year of recession record-high unemployment levels.

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