of the regional administration and Reggio Calabria as the seat of the regional parliament. The revolt ended up by being taken over by neo-fascists (relevant was also the role of the militant neo-fascist movement National Vanguard) and led to unexpected electoral fortunes for the Italian Social Movement at the Italian general election in May 1972, when Franco was elected senator. The neo-fascists benefitted, because the Christian Democrats were divided, and the PCI supported the suppression of the riots. Workers protest The leftist unions led by the Italian General Confederation of Labour, who abandoned the revolt after the first five days due to violence and exploitation by the neo-fascists, set up a workers march in Reggio on October 22, 1972, named Conferenza del Mezzogiorno, in order to show the city that workers from the whole country were supporting their requests but rejecting the means of violence. On a less evident level, the unions desire was to weaken the apparent influence of CISNAL and Francesco Franco, demonstrating that the majority of workers were with them. For the first time in Italian unions history, a major national rally was held in southern Italy. The industrial powerhouse of the country was in the north, while the political hub is in the center, so the southern part was usually underrepresented in the unionist action. Twenty trains were chartered to bring workers from northern and central Italy, especially from the FIAT plant in Turin. One thousand shipbuilders from Genova Ansaldo shipyards booked a whole ship for their trip. Bombs In order to impair the rally, right-wing terrorists placed bombs on the railway. The track in Cassino was bombed. Some trains were assaulted by people while crossing stations, some of them trying to join the protest, some trying to infiltrate the workers as agent provocateur. Taunts from some bystanders to the workers, as Roman salutes and insults, were a common occurrence during the trip. In Priverno-Fossanova station, near Latina, a bomb blew up on a train coming from Bologna, causing only five injured. A new train was brought, and the workers continued their trip. A bomb was detonated on the stairs of the Palace of Justice of Latina. Two bombs exploded in Roccella Jonica, destroying two pylons of the telephone lines. On the Rome–Reggio Calabria railway a bomb is detonated in the Valmontone station. After the explosion, police found another unexploded device at the entrance of the