High fuel prices: truck strikes in Italy leave supermarket shelves empty

Supermarkets in Naples look as if they had been looted: fruit and vegetable shelves in particular are empty. Meat, fish and dairy products are also completely missing. And in those small fruit shops that still have goods, prices are skyrocketing. For example, a kilo of tomatoes costs 10 euros.

The larger industry associations declared themselves satisfied with this, but the rank-and-file committees leading the strike in the south continue to strike. Above all, they demand the abolition of the fuel tax, which amounts to 25 cents per liter for diesel.

Agriculture is also feeling the drastic consequences. The wholesale markets for fruit and vegetables in southern Italy have not been supplied for days, causing millions in damages to farmers. The production of buffalo mozzarella in Campania also had to stop: the finished mozzarella could neither be transported away nor did buffalo milk reach the manufacturers. The mozzarella producers estimate their losses at 3 million euros per day. But industrial companies are now also complaining about production downtimes because parts are not being delivered.

The protests were not entirely free of violence: truck drivers who were not ready to strike reported that their tires were slashed by colleagues. A trucker told the Italian news agency Ansa that he had been forced to drive to a motorway service station. He was then refused further travel from there and he felt “taken hostage”.