Truck drivers in Italy continued to strike Wednesday ignoring a government order for them to halt the stoppage and clear blockades paralysing road traffic and threatening food and fuel supplies, according to dpa. Transport Minister Alessandro Bianchi's order issued Tuesday evening had given truck drivers until midnight to remove their vehicles from highway toll gates and other road access points. The order cited the right of citizens to essential supplies, including food and fuel, which the government said the strike was violating. But by Wednesday morning many of the blockades were still in place with traffic snarled along main motorways leading in and out of Rome, Venice, and Italy's borders with France and Switzerland, according to news reports. Despite warnings that police would act against those disobeying the government order, many truck driver spent the night next to their parked vehicles, in some cases lighting fires to keep warm. Unions representing the truck drivers condemned the government order to end the strike which was called to protest high fuel prices and long working hours. "There's an attempt to criminalize an entire category," said FITA-CNA union representative, Antonio Migliaccio, in an interview with private broadcaster Radio Citta Futura on Wednesday morning. Lawyers representing the unions were "evaluating the legality of the government's order," Migliaccio said. Still, public opinion appeared overwhelmingly against the truck drivers who began their strike on Monday vowing to stop work for five days. Television news reports have showed angry motorists stranded in queues demanding action against those they said were holding the country hostage to their demands. According to news reports, by Tuesday evening some 60 per cent of filling stations in Italy had run out of petrol and diesel, supplies of which are normally normally trucked in. Italy's main farming association Coldiretti warned that the strike was preventing perishable goods such as fruit and vegetables from reaching shop shelves, thus damaging consumers but also potentially causing massive losses to the agriculture sector.
