ROME (AP) — Commuters in Italy scrambled on Friday to find the few buses and subway trains running during a one-day general strike that also affected air and rail travel, banks, public offices and schools.

The nationwide strike was called by Italy’s biggest labor confederation to push for more investment in job creation and for reform of a tax system that is widely seen as penalizing salaried workers, AP reported.
The mass transit walkout was set to last for four hours at morning or evening rush hours.
Flight personnel were striking from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and railway workers from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Alitalia changed departure times to ensure intercontinental service and reduced domestic and European flights.
The strike also forced La Scala to cancel its scheduled performance of Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot, the opera house’s website said.
Motorists on the main north-south highway whizzed through toll booths near Florence without paying. A sign said no toll was being collected because toll keepers were also on strike. In Rome, some taxi drivers idled their cabs even though they weren’t part of the union.
Those headed to the post office faced the prospect of long lines, as the strike in that sector was set to last eight hours, or most of the scheduled opening hours. In one Rome major piazza, Largo Argentina, one bank was closed, while across the square another bank had one worker inside at the teller’s window.
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Photo: The nationwide strike was called by Italy’s biggest labor confederation on Friday to protest against the inefficient economic policies (IRNA/ Abbas Ali Naqian)