Your say on Italy's general strike

(CNN) -- As unions hold a general strike in Italy, do you think organised labour is justified in flexing its muscles? CNN's Richard Quest asked for your views. Here is a selection of your e-mails. You can have your say by mailing quest@cnn.com.

I'm strongly supporting the strike. Mr. Berlusconi is trying to run a counter-reform and does not accept compromise / negotiation /mediation the unions. Guido Campani

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It must mean something if after 20 years there is a general 8 hours strike. Someone wants to fight this government with muscles, not with political proposals. Flexibility is necessary in a country which has a 1970s labour system. Francesco Pirola, Milan, Italy

It is important to remember that general strikes are not the same all over the world. Strike is a much more pacific tool in Italy than it

is in most other countries, it has something of a "way of life" characteristic. Such a day does not plunge the country in chaos nor does it

disrupt day-to-day life. Most people that are forced to stay at home take the day as just an extra free day and will go to the beach, to the

mountains or attend to chores at home. Eberhard Mugler, Padova, Italy

The current Italian prime minister and his government wants to rule the country as if it were his own private enterprise, his own flock of sheep. The right to strike is guaranteed by law, and if millions of Italians (workers and non workers) decide to go on an eight-hour national general strike, the first in 20 years, it must mean something. The unions announced their intention a long time in advance: shouldn't a government have at least tried to avoid its occurrence? Giampiero Minelli, Italy

In the case of the Italian general strike, perhaps it would be more appropriate to speak of Berlusconi's counter-reform instead of reform. We risk returning many decades backwards. Sergio Piro, Naples, Italy

Strike is a fundamental right but should never bee misused Here in France as well as abroad, strikes are now viewed as the "French speciality" and the "national sport". Even though strikes are a fundamental right, it is time to sit down and talk instead of running to the streets with violent demonstrations and the consequences of ruining the lives of ordinary people each time you disagree with your boss. Re: Berlusconi's Italy, there may be a need for labour reforms, but in Latin cultures (as the management style is more "authoritarian" and organisations are less decentralized) the workers and their bosses seem to have less dialogues with each other like in for instance north of Europe and in Scandinavia. Karo, Paris, France

Talking and compromise / negotiation /mediation solves problems vs. demonstrating mobs displaying hostilities. Stephanie, Houston, Texas

Should workers have the right to strike? Of course they have. You even don't have to ask such question. Pierre, France

The best way to get the attention of these CEOs is to bring their businesses to a grinding halt. Money talks to these people. Why would they care about anything as long as their cash is flowing. Paul, Atlanta, Georgia

Sometimes people talk and promises are made but then nothing is done. So I think sometimes people should walk when talk has failed. Okore Dismas, Eldoret, Kenya

I'm thinking of going on strike myself, but what good will that do if they (the suits) do not listen to us anyway? Amanda

Employers claim to hold the right to decide just how the product of workers labour is divided. Striking is a means of applying pressure in order to bring about a more equitable distribution, or in the case of political strikes, as in Italy at the moment, to cause a government to drop attempts to worsen the conditions of workers. George Collinson

The (Italian) government cannot think to push through reforms whatsoever without a wide social consensus. If it does so it shows how anti-democratic it is and therefore it does not deserve to govern without being contrasted vehemently by the Italian people. Mr Berlusconi and his crew cannot think they are in Chile of the mid-seventies! Michael H. Cerdini Marfilius