ACTIVISTS have demanded that charges of murder are brought against bosses after an Italian trade unionist was killed when a truck rammed into a picket line on Friday.

Adil Belakadim died after a lorry ploughed into striking logistics workers outside a Lidl facility in Biandrate, in the northern province of Novara, his union Si Cobas confirmed.

The incident has drawn widespread condemnation. Prime Minister Mario Draghi expressed his sorrow, adding: “It’s necessary that light is immediately shed on what happened.” 

The driver, who sped away from the scene, was apprehended at a motorway toll and taken into custody by the carabinieri.

Union spokesman Attilio Fasulo called for an immediate strike in the logistics sector. He said that workers have been pressing for better working conditions for some time.

Lidl expressed its condolences and insisted that it had been “in constant rapport with the main union organisations.”

But union activists from the CGIL trade union confederation demanded tough action “in the face of this outrageous act of murder.”

In a statement issued on Saturday they said that the incident “was not an accident but a murder and deliberate attack [against] the workers’ struggle.”

They said that it was clear that bosses were taking “a hard line” on the dispute, highlighting a recent attack by a gang of strike-breakers on a picket of FedEx workers in Tavazzano.

They accused bosses of triggering these violent attacks on workers by using strike-breakers or the deployment of riot police.

“As members of the CGIL, we expect our organisation to give a firm and immediate response,” the statement said.

“The calling of meetings in workplaces and of a general strike can no longer be postponed. The workers must know that the union does not stand by idly — it must mobilise to protect them.”