ROME: Thousands of Italians took part in a general strike on Friday to protest low wages and purchasing power, although its impact on transport was limited. The strike, called by two union confederations, was set to last evight hours in all sectors except transport, where far-right Transport Minister Matteo Salvini ordered it halved it to four hours. The country’s main union — the left-wing CGIL — and the centrist UIL called the strike in protest at the draft budget tabled by the hard-right government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, calling it “totally unsuitable to resolve the country’s problems”. They want to see “an increase in purchasing power for employees and retired people, as well as funding for health, education, public services and industrial policies”, the CGIL said in a statement. Italy, like France, has been singled out by the European Union for its huge deficit.