If the US economy is doing just fine, why are we workers going from (1) both husband and wife needing to work, to (2) both spouses needing to work TWO jobs, doing 80 hours a week each, at the same "median" pay, just to make ends meet? Italian Workers Strike For 6 hours MEZZOMERICO, Italy (AP) - Steelworkers at a foundry in northern Italy struck for six hours Saturday to show solidarity with U.S. colleagues locked out in six-month labor dispute in Minnesota. Twenty-six of the 28 Italian workers on duty agreed to take part in the sympathy strike, union representative Umberto Zillo said. ``It's a very good score for us,'' Zillo said. The Mezzomerico plant and the plant in Duluth, Minn., are both owned by GS Industries, of Charlotte, N.C., which also has plants in the Philippines, Chile, Peru, Mexico and Australia. Workers at Duluth's ME International went on strike last year over what they allege are unfair labor practices, including alleged safety problems and mandatory overtime. The strike turned into a lockout last month when the plant rejected workers' offer to return to work during negotiations. Strikes in Italy typically last for hours - seldom months, or even days - and replacement workers are rare. Italian workers expressed surprise last month when a touring labor representative from Duluth told them of the length of the walkout there. They agreed then to Saturday's sympathy strike. Zillo said Saturday the striking Italian workers also meant the strike as a warning signal to their own employers.
