24-hour national transport strike brewing up in Italy on 27 November

It will affect local public transit services in major cities of the country

If you live in or are planning to visit Italy on Monday, 27 November, then you are best advised to prepare for an upcoming local public transport services strike. It will affect the operations of buses, trams and metro in the main cities, such as Rome and Milan, but also elsewhere in the country.

The effect of the labour disputes will translate into likely disruptions and delays of urban mobility services, which many commuters and tourists depend on.

Transport strikes are becoming increasingly common in Italy

The new strike arose in response to the way the Italian government responded to another strike that took place on 17 November. Transport Minister Matteo Salvini limited the effects of what was initially organized as a 24-hour disruption to only four hours through an injunction.

This, however, left the trade unions representing the interests of the public transport workers dissatisfied with the turn of events, which they felt wasn’t enough to make the authorities pay attention to their demands. This is, in fact, the fifth such strike in the Italian transport sector in only two months.

Rome’s urban mobility website informs that the strike will affect ATAC and Roma TPL services from 08.30 to 17.00 and from 20.00 until the end of service.

Likewise, common sense dictates that Milan’s public transport operator ATM’s services will also experience disruptions, however, they still haven’t informed the public about these changes. Our advice is to follow their website and social media accounts.

This Friday, the unions behind the labour protest will organize a press conference in Rome to inform the public about their demands in more concrete terms.

Following another injunction attempt by Transport Minister Matteo Salvini to limit the strike down to 4 hours, the trade unions organizing it have now decided to postpone it to 15 December. 

Certain strike actions will go ahead as planned today, however. This includes Milan's public transport provider ATM from 18.00 to 22.00 and Cotral bus services in Lazio region from 08.30 to 17.00 and from 20.00 until the end of the day.