(AFP) - Italian truck drivers launched a five-day strike Monday in protest of high fuel prices, bringing chaos to major cities and huge jams at frontiers with neighbouring countries.
Some drivers blocked roads with their lorries, while others formed convoys that deliberately slowed traffic on major highways. It is the second major strike in the transport sector in the past two weeks.
Paolo Ugge , head of the FAI, the biggest drivers' union, said about 90 percent of members had followed the strike call. "The response has been very strong," he told AFP.
Seven unions, representing about 80 percent of drivers working for the estimated 100,000 transport companies, called the strike to protest at fuel prices and deregulation in the sector.
The drivers -- staging their first major strike since 1990 -- are demanding government help with rising fuel prices. Union leaders are to meet Italian Transport Minister Alessandro Bianchi on Tuesday.
There were long tailbacks on roads into Rome, Milan, Bologna, Naples, Genoa and other cities Monday, while barricades of trucks restricted cars to a single lane on many major highways and completely blocked others.
At Ventimiglia , on the Italy-France coastal border, the strikers stopped any trucks from crossing the frontier. There was a tailback of more than 10 kilometres (six miles) of lorries on the French side.
Alpes -Maritimes officials said they had asked truckers near Monaco to make a U-turn to unblock the roads, and this was accomplished around midday, allowing regular cars to move on the roads.
Large transport trucks weighing more than 7.5 tonnes were also barred from highway A8 and on secondary routes in the Alps-Maritimes and Var region near the border "until the end of the blockade", both regional authorities said.
On Sunday dozens of Italian lorry drivers blocked the Frejus tunnel linking the two countries through the Alps mountains.
"Forty days ago, we wrote to the government to alert them to the situation, but they did not take any measures to negotiate," Ugge said.
He said that they had not asked for anything "extraordinary", only issues related to their contracts and on the price of petrol.
About 70 percent of Italy's merchandise is moved by road, according to La Stampa daily, which estimated that the current five-day strike would cost about five billion euros (7.3 billion dollars).
Coldiretti , the farmer's union, warned there will be "rotting produce in the fields and thousands of tonnes of fruits and vegetables rotting in the storehouses" if the strike continues.
The petrol station manager's union, Fegica-Cisl , also warned the situation could "become critical starting on Wednesday" if petrol companies cannot carry out their deliveries.
Italy's largest transport strike in 25 years caused widespread chaos on November 30, with hundreds of flights cancelled and trains, buses, ferries, emergency services and even hearses out of action.
Tens of thousands of transport workers took part in the action in protest at what they say is insufficient money for transport in centre-left Prime Minister Romano Prodi's 2008 budget.
Prodi's belt-tightening budget aims to cut Italy's budget deficit to 2.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) next year, from 2.4 percent this year, in line with European rules.
But unions say there is not enough money for transport. They also want the government to make a stronger commitment to state airline Alitalia , which has been losing money for more than a decade, and to the national rail company.