an eyewitness said, "I don’t know if I will find the words to tell you about this great day in Rome... the likes of which no-one can remember. ...[We] were mixed in among the thousands and thousands of women, men and children in a sea which grew everywhere and with every glance. Was there ever such a sensation of being part of a people, under endless fluttering banners, to give such emotion?”

here are some links to a few good articles on the proposed law changes:
 http://www.workersliberty.org.uk//modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=54
(basically the background, the history and the governments plans)

 http://www.workersliberty.org.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=52
("who is tony's crony berlusconi?")

 http://www.workersliberty.org.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=50
(an article on the history of the red brigades in italy, who are supposedly behind the shooting of a labour ministry advisor who was central to drawing up the plans that the workers are to be striking against. the government compared the unions with the red brigades saying they were all the same[which is obviously rubbish!] after one unin the CGIL refused to cancel the demonstration on 23 march "out of respect" for the shot capitalist)

and at  http://www.workersliberty.org.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=51
(a description of the demo translated from the italian left daily newspaper "liberazione")

hope this stuff is of some use, anyone else who has found some other good articles on this could add them as a comment