Italy’s national transport strike has plunged the country into chaos for several days. In Rome, Milan, Naples and Turin, trains, metros, buses and lorries have ground to a halt, causing major disruption for users. This social movement, supported by a broad coalition of trade unions, is denouncing the stagnation of salaries, increasing job insecurity and deteriorating working conditions throughout the sector. Several days of action have taken place since the beginning of the year.
National transport strike in Italy: wages frozen and working conditions worsened
The unions behind the movement – notably the CGIL, the UIL and the autonomous transport unions – are denouncing theabsence of real pay rises for several years, while inflation has soared, eating away at workers’ incomes every month. The increases proposed by employers are considered to be symbolic, sometimes less than 3% a year, which is largely insufficient to cope with the explosion in rents, food and energy costs.
Train drivers, bus conductors and logistics staff also talk about tiring working rhythms, unstable schedules, excessive workloads due to staff cuts, and a chronic lack of technical resources.
The Meloni government under pressure
This Italian transport strike on pay conditions is also putting the social strategy of Giorgia Meloni’s government to the test. Committed to a policy of budgetary austerity and strict compliance with European rules, the Italian executive is trying to contain demands while avoiding a social explosion.
The unions are demanding the immediate opening of national negotiations on collective agreements in the transport sector, as well as a country-wide pay improvement plan. They are also demanding symbolic and financial recognition of the essential role played by transport workers during the pandemic.
National transport strike in Italy well attended… despite annoyance from users
Despite the inconvenience caused, Italians seem divided between exasperation and solidarity. While some are denouncing the disruption to their daily lives, others understand the approach and believe that the demands are legitimate. Many voices on social networks are even calling for the mobilisation to be extended to other sectors affected by the same problems of insecurity: health, education and energy.
In some towns, citizens’ groups have distributed leaflets in support of the strikers and their demands. The unions are counting on this wave of solidarity to broaden the balance of power in the days ahead.
A European echo?
This transport strike in Italy is also part of a wider context in Europe: in Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, protest movements are multiplying in the transport and logistics sectors. The cost of living, the flexibilisation of contracts, excessive subcontracting and precarious working conditions are becoming common themes throughout the European Union.
Faced with this trend, some left-wing MEPs are calling for greater social harmonisation in the transport sector, with a common set of rights, minimum wages and trade union protection.
A mobilisation that could get tougher
The Italian unions have already announced that further strike days may be called if no concrete progress is made. They are even raising the idea of intersectoral coordination, in conjunction with other trades affected by the fall in purchasing power.
For many strikers, this struggle is about more than just pay: it’s also about defending the dignity of work, rejecting the destruction of public services and making the voices of the invisible people who keep the country’s infrastructure running heard.
