Right to strike must be defended, more dialogue needed-Zuppi

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 16 - Both the right to strike and the limitations of this right must be defended and this is only possible through dialogue, the President of the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI)Cardinal Matteo Zuppi said on Thursday, referring to the injunction issued by Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini limiting to four hours the one-day general strike on Friday affecting the transport sector in particular.
    "There is a right that has to be defended, but there is also a limitation of the right that has to be defended, I do not want to shift blame..." Zuppi told reporters after the CEI general assembly in Assisi.
    "Perhaps we need more encounter, more dialogue," he continued.
    "Even in political conflict there needs to be a dialectic about the present challenges. I have the impression that we are some way off on this. Rights must be defended, rules must always be respected," he concluded.
    Unions reacted angrily to the injunction, which was issued on Wednesday after they refused to back down following a ruling by the country's strike watchdog that the stoppage did not meet the requirements for a general strike and should be rescheduled.
    (ANSA).