Journalists from the Italian state broadcaster RAI held a day of strike, ten years after their last collective industrial action. The strike had been called by the RAI journalists’ union USIGRAI in protest at the board’s plan to adopt linear cuts to budget spending without any consultation with its employees.

Unionists complain that some regular news and sports bulletins will be shut off as early as January 9 next year.

Owned by Italy’s Ministry of Economy, RAI is one of the largest broadcasters in Europe and currently employs about 11,000 staff.

The company has suffered greatly from the Covid crisis, losing tax and ad revenues from struggling businesses particularly in the hospitality sector.

Independence at public broadcaster RAI is a long-running controversy in Italy. Political parties’ interference in RAI has been there forever.

A 2015 reform plan under former premier Matteo Renzi, that was supposed to free the publicly-funded broadcasting company from political influence, merely transferred the power from the parliament to the government to appoint top managers.

The previous RAI board of directors approved cuts of about 67 million euros in 2021 alone. A new CEO was appointed by the Draghi government in July and tasked to further slash costs, reduce the debt burden amounting to over 500 million euros and press ahead with the digital shift.