November 8th promises to be a difficult Friday for local public transport, as a national strike has been called that could interrupt bus and metro service for the entire day, with no guaranteed time slots for users. The announcement of the mobilization was made by Filt Cgil, Fit Cisl, Uiltrasporti, Faisa Cisal and Ugl Fna during a press conference in which they explained the reasons behind the protest. This strike is part of the dispute for the renewal of the national collective agreement for bus, tram and inter-railway drivers, which expired on December 31st of last year, with negotiations that broke off in May.
The trade unions have clarified that the absence of guarantee bands is provided for by law in the event of mobilization, a situation that has not occurred since 2005. The reasons for the strike are not only the increase in wages for the approximately 100 thousand workers involved, but also requests related to safety, sustainability and greater availability of resources for the sector. The five trade unions have highlighted the cuts to the Local Public Transport Fund, which amount to approximately one and a half billion over the last ten years.
According to Stefano Malorgio, secretary general of Filt Cgil, the 120 million foreseen by the 2025 budget are completely insufficient. He highlighted how while other European countries are investing in local public transport, in Italy we are witnessing a decline in services in cities of all sizes. Salvatore Pellecchia, secretary general of Fit Cisl, called for a reform of the local public transport system, highlighting how in Italy there are 900 companies in the sector compared to only 5-6 in other European countries. Mauro Mongelli of Faisa Cisal recalled a previous initiative, the “Mattarella commission”, which however did not lead to concrete results.
Fabio Milloch of Ugl Fna highlighted the critical situation of public transport, many of which are obsolete and poorly distributed among the various cities. Furthermore, Marco Verzari of Uiltrasporti highlighted the problem of attacks on workers in the sector, who live in situations of high insecurity and precariousness. The general request is for adequate refinancing of the sector to face these challenges.
A new public transport strike is looming, particularly affecting commuters, tourists and passengers in Rome. The trade unions Usb Lavoro Privato and Orsa have in fact called a 24-hour stoppage today for Atac, which will involve buses, trams, trolleybuses, subways and the Termini-Centocelle tramway.
A new public transport strike is coming, and this time the ones who will suffer the inconvenience will be mainly commuters, passengers and tourists in Rome.