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News :: Economy : Globalization : Labor : Political-Economy : Protest Activity |
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Food for Thought!?!?!? |
Current rating: 0 |
by Altazor
(No verified email address) |
07 Dec 2004
Modified: 09:06:35 AM |
An example of the Italian Autonomist practice of Autoreduzioni, Self-Reduction.
Low-wage workers unite!!! And you could be drinking champaign tonite! |
Police stand aside as anarchists raid Italian supermarkets
posted by Lily on Sunday December 05 2004 @ 05:01PM PST
Police stand aside as anarchists raid Italian supermarkets By Bruce Johnston in Rome (Filed: 05/12/2004)
When 300 "shoppers" poured into a busy Rome supermarket and loaded their trolleys with fine wine and food, it was not because there were any special offers.
Instead the crowd, led by anarchist protesters who swigged champagne as they swept down the aisles, demanded a 70 per cent "discount" on everything they wanted.
They ignored the manager's refusal and police, who feared a riot, stood by as the protesters wheeled trolleys laden with goods past the tills and on to the street, to distribute their contents to anyone who would take them.
The raid on the giant Panorama supermarket, on the eastern outskirts of Rome, was the most spectacular of 40 similar swoops on Italian stores in recent weeks by mobs claiming they were "reappropriating" the goods. There is considerable sympathy for the protesters among Italians who are fed up with high unemployment and economic austerity.
One pensioner who witnessed the Panorama raid, complained that after paying his rent he only had €250 (£173) a month to live on. "There's nothing wrong with what they're doing," he said. "Bravo," said a woman. "I can only go shopping once a month, and when the money runs out I have to tighten my belt."
The first supermarket raid was launched by activists in Milan protesting at the conditions of part-time workers, but the idea was hijacked as a publicity vehicle by anarchists.
Nor are supermarkets the only target. Last week anarchists extracted autoreduzioni, or "self-imposed discounts", of 60 per cent from bookshops in Bologna and Florence.
Da Celeste restaurant in Volpago del Montello, a town near Venice, was also hit. A group of 44 people ate a €2,000 dinner then walked out without paying. They left an €82 tip and a written message, informing the astonished owner that the unpaid bill was the price he must pay for agreeing to cater for a recent Nato meeting in Venice.
Celeste Tolon, the proprietor, said: "The appropriations are unfair to honest, hard-working people like myself. They should have picked on someone else."
Link: www.italy.indymedia.org
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk |
See also:
http://www.italy.indymedia.org
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
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This work is in the public domain |
