Italian transportation workers are set to stage a nationwide strike on November 29, 2024, potentially disrupting Black Friday shopping and economic activities across multiple sectors of the transportation industry.
According to the Italian news portal Transporto Europa, two distinct union groups will halt transportation services across the country, targeting the government’s economic policies and proposed legislative changes.
The confederal unions Filt Cgil and Uiltrasporti will conduct a strike affecting multiple transportation sectors. Their action will include:
- local public transport (eight-hour stoppage),
- partial airport closures,
- highway disruptions,,
- 24-hour maritime transport interruption. Notably, the railway sector is exempt from this strike.
Another 48-hour strike is planned for December
Beyond the Black Friday disruption, major Italian unions are planning a more extensive 48-hour strike on December 9-10, 2024. Filt Cgil, Fit Cisl, and Uiltrasporti will mobilize freight transport, logistics, and shipping workers to demand improvements in their National Collective Labour Agreement.
The unions, representing a sector that employs approximately one million workers and contributes 10% of Italy’s GDP, are pushing for better working hours, enhanced health and safety measures, reduction of precarious employment, improved conditions for road transport workers.
Union leaders argue that the sector’s economic importance necessitates fair compensation and improved working conditions, with the strike serving as a critical negotiation tool to address what they describe as “extremist positions” from employers’ associations.
The simultaneous actions by both November and December union groups highlight ongoing labor tensions in Italy’s transportation and logistics sectors.
