ROME

Labor unions in Italy on Saturday marched to protest a recent rise in fatal workplace accidents and demand better worker safety.

Around 20,000 workers marched in Rome to draw attention to a recent increase in work-related deaths and to demand improvements in safety and health conditions at workplaces, with the call of the Italian General Confederation of Labor (CGIL) and the Italian Labor Union (UIL).

The workers' march started from Circo Massimo in the center of the capital and continued to Ostiense Square. Palestinian flags were also unfurled during the march.

Maurizio Landini, the confederation's secretary general, said: "The workers who keep this country afloat are not going to stand it. There are serious salary problems and unacceptable levels of insecurity. Constitutional rights are not guaranteed, especially in the public sector. People continue to die in workplace accidents. There is a need for change."

Last year, a reported 1,041 workers in Italy lost their lives in workplace accidents.

*Writing by Zeynep Cetin in Istanbul