ROME/PARIS--Italian workers joined a wave of strikes in Europe against austerity cuts and welfare reform, but the French and Greek governments stood their ground on Friday on tackling the crippling cost of state pensions.
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon rejected any major compromise on plans to raise the retirement age, while the Greek government agreed an unpopular bill overhauling its pension system, a requirement of a bailout agreed with the EU and IMF.
Even leading industrial nations appeared at odds over how hard and fast to tackle their huge budget deficits and debt piles, sending ripples of concern across financial markets.
Support for Friday's Italian strike, called by the country's biggest union, appeared patchy on the streets of Rome after a big turnout for French protests on Thursday. "There are always more and more buses that do not go on strike, because clearly you go on strike to attain something and we never seem to attain anything," said driver Maurizio Rinaldi at Rome's Termini station, where commuters queued in the sun.
The left-leaning CGIL union, which has six million members, held rallies in Rome, Milan and several other cities, trying to force the government to redraft a 25-billion-euro ($34 billion) austerity package, which Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says is an essential part of European efforts to save the euro. A senior CGIL official reflected an acceptance among many European workers that something has to be done to curb state debt, but also a fear that austerity will hit the poor most.
"No one denies that we need to make cuts, but they must be cuts which are fair and look to the future, rather than just slashing spending," said Susanna Camusso, deputy leader of the CGIL, leading a march in the leftist stronghold of Bologna.
But Italians may lack the solidarity to force a climbdown. The other two main unions asked their members to work on Friday. Initial support appeared to be muted, with several bus and metro services in Rome still running.
Friday's stoppage followed union protests in France and Greece this week against plans for pension reform and budget cuts. Members of the 16-nation euro zone have rushed to approve austerity measures to restore confidence in the common currency and halt contagion from Greece's debt crisis.
In Athens the cabinet approved reforms cutting benefits, curbing widespread early retirement, increasing the length of pension contributions and raising women's retirement age from 60 to match men on 65.
"It will be a completely new system," Labour Minister Andreas Loverdos told Reuters after the cabinet meeting. "It was difficult but now I believe we can change things in Greece."
Opinion polls show a very large majority of Greeks oppose the reform and unions will stage a 24-hour strike on June 29.