The teachers are protesting against $64 billion worth of cuts in education which will mean lower pay and pensions, fewer teachers – there have already been cuts of more than 140,000 teachers over the last three years – larger class sizes and the increased casualisation of the labour force.

While an original plan to increase taxes for wealthier Italians has been dropped, other new measures have been included, such as a diminution of employment rights. This will mean it will be easier for employers to sack their workers.

Public sector workers are also angry that while they pay their taxes at source, many people who run businesses avoid paying any tax at all.

As part of its austerity package, the government has also considered increasing value added tax, which economists agree hits the poor hardest, and raising the retirement age.

The Conservative coalition government of Prime Minister Berlusconi has instigated these measures in the face of increasing speculation by international bonds traders who have down-graded confidence in the Italian economy, and have demanded higher interest rates to buy Italian bonds.

This has had a knock-on effect on the economy of the European Union, and its embattled currency the Euro, as populations resist austerity measures in countries including Greece, Portugal, Spain and the UK.

Critics at Teachers’ Solidarity have argued that teachers and other public sector workers are being sacrificed to the markets who determine what funding is made available for vital public services like education. Despite this, teachers and students have once again been at the forefront of the struggle to put the interests of people before profit.