STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Italy's next step in a crisis is at the top of NPR's business news.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Italian prime minister Mario Monti is trying to restructure the economy so his country has a better shot at paying its debts. Today, he sits down to negotiate with the country's powerful trade union leaders. Monti hopes to weaken legal protections that make it almost impossible to fire employees.  He blames these rules for slow economic growth and high unemployment in Italy.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Union leaders are threatening nationwide strikes, resembling the kinds of protests that accompanied economic changes in Greece.
On Tuesday, Italian prime minister Mario Monti sits down with powerful trade union leaders, hoping to weaken legal protections that make it almost impossible to fire workers. Monti blames these rules for slow economic growth. Union leaders are threatening nationwide strikes.