ROME (Reuters) -Italian motorists faced queues to buy petrol on Wednesday as fuel station operators staged a strike, angry at being caught up in a dispute between the government and consumer groups over rising prices at the pump after a cut in fuel duties expired.
Initially, unions had called for a 48-hour strike starting from Tuesday evening. They said on Wednesday they revoked the second day of the strike to not cause an “unnecessary disruption” to motorists.
The strike was called “to protest against the shameful smear campaign against the sector”, representatives for the industry said, accusing the government of taking “ineffective measures, which continue to penalise only the operators, without protecting consumers”.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has refused to reinstate the duty reduction and the government has warned against speculative price rises.
It has ordered operators to display the average fuel price, updated on a regular basis, alongside the prices being charged at their petrol station.
A certain number of fuel stations remained open to ensure that minimum levels of service are maintained.
(Writing by Keith Weir and Gianluca Semeraro, editing by Louise Heavens and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
