City centers all over Italy were filled with carnival-like demonstrations on Tuesday that brought much of the country to a standstill. Air and rail transport didn’t budge. Schools, banks and post offices shut down, while production lines at many top Italian companies sat idle.

"There has been a massive response to the strike call from workers across the board, closing a huge number of firms around the country," Italy's three largest unions - the CGIL, CISL and UIL - said in a joint statement.

The unions said rallies in Rome, Florence, Milan and Bologna each drew crowds of more than 200,000 people. Over 100,000 strikers took to the streets of Turin, the northern Italian headquarters of carmaker Fiat.

Controversial change

The strike was aimed against a small part of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's planned labor reform. It’s an adjustment to a section of Italy's labor code called Article 18. This forces companies to reinstate anyone sacked without "just cause".

Italian companies say it’s almost impossible to lay off staff without entering into complex negotiations with unions, creating a "jobs for life" mentality. The government says this is stifling the labor market and hindering industrial development.

Most economists say the proposed changes are mild, and argue that Italy needs to go much further to make the labor market more flexible.

Unions say Article 18 is the cornerstone of Italian workers' rights and cannot be touched.

Return to day-to-day life

Although Tuesday’s strike left much of Italy temporarily frozen, analysts expected the situation to return rapidly to normal.

"This is a piece of theater that will serve to remind the unions they have a voice and then hopefully the next day labor negotiations will resume," said James Walston, a professor of Italian politics at the American University in Rome.

Berlusconi, whose center-right coalition was swept to power last year on a pledge to modernize Italy, has said he will push on with his labor reform despite the strike.

While the unions have left open the possibility of further action if Berlusconi does not back down, there are signs both sides will return to negotiations almost immediately. Common ground is already being forged over the idea of creating an unemployment benefit fund to help those who lose their jobs.