After the Black Friday of air transport comes the Black Monday of local transport. For Monday 27 November the grassroots unions Usb, Orsa, Sgb, Cub, Adl and Cobas have called a 24-hour national strike on local public transport which heralds a new tug of war with the Government after last week's. The Minister of Transport, Matteo Salvini has already asked the trade unions to reduce the duration of the protest. Otherwise a new precept could arrive.
Public transport strike 27 November: all the information
Da Atac in Rome ad ATM in Milan, from AT in Florence to Eav in Naples and so on, a public transport strike is scheduled for Monday 27 November. At risk buses, subways, trams and trains. The protest was called by the grassroots unions. "We strike for decent wage increases, better working conditions, the protection of health and safety" but also "against privatizations" and "against the violent attack on the right to strike by the right-wing government", they say Cobas, Usb, Cub Trasporti, Sgb and Orsa.
The strike should last 24 hours. The usual guarantee periods established by law will be respected: from the start of the daytime service at 8.29 am and from 17.00 pm to 19.59 pm.
Salvini's reaction: “Common sense or precept”
The strike reignites the clash between the Government and the unions after the injunction and the fiery words last week between the Transport Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and the secretary of the CGIL, Maurizio Landini.
“Since I believe that the right to strike is sacrosanct but also the right to work of Italians, we will try to limit inconvenience to citizens as much as possible”, stated the minister, who then joked: “Strikes almost always fall on Friday or Monday, I hardly see a strike on a Wednesday”.
In the meantime, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport has already sent a letter to the trade unions involved inviting them to desist. The ministry “hopes for a positive response in the next few hours. Otherwise, as per procedure, the ministry will be summoned for a discussion", reads a note from the MIT.
Immediately afterwards a new statement from Salvini arrived: “I don't accept 24 hour lockout of public transport because it would be chaos. If they apply common sense I will not intervene, but if they think of stopping the whole of Italy for 24 hours I will not allow it and I will do everything the law allows me to do." Translated into simple words: either the duration of the strike is reduced to 4 hours or in all likelihood a new precept will be triggered.
The unions on the strike of November 27: "In our country we can no longer strike"
The trade unions' rejoinder was not long in coming: "We will maintain the 24-hour strike, it would be the second time that the government intervenes in two months to reduce a strike and the situation is starting to get serious: it would mean that we can no longer go on strike in our country", said Michele Frullo, USB Transport manager, to Adnkronos.
