Salvini signs to reduce Friday's protest to 4 hours but the TAR stops the ordinance. Here are the expected transport disruptions

The Lazio Regional Administrative Court, in a monocratic decree, granted the request by the Union of Basic Trade Unions (Usb) to suspend the order of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, signed by Minister Matteo Salvini on 10 December 2024, ordering the reduction to four hours of the general strike proclaimed for tomorrow 13 December by the Usb confederation, for a duration of 24 hours, in the transport sector.

'We have done everything possible to defend the Italians' right to mobility. For the umpteenth Friday of chaos and inconvenience, citizens can thank a judge of the Lazio Tar,' is the vice-premier's comment.

The general strike of the grassroots unions will affect the various transport sectors in a multifaceted manner. Here is how it will take place. Air transport is exempt from the protest. Metro, bus and urban railways: the strike is 24 hours but respects protected bands that are defined and communicated locally. In Rome, the protected band runs from the start of the shift at 8.30 a.m. and then from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. In Milan, the metro runs from the start of the shift at 8.45 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Railways: the circulation staff will stop from 9 p.m. tonight, Thursday 12 December, to 8.59 p.m. tomorrow. Fixed staff for the whole day on the 13th. Regional trains will respect guarantee bands, the busiest ones: from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The companies have already announced on their websites the connections and trains that are nevertheless guaranteed. Air transport is exempt from the strike. In the case ofmaritime transport, administrative staff will strike for the entire shift. For connections to the larger islands, the travelling personnel will strike from one hour before departures on 13 December. The connections to the sea islands will stop from midnight until 11.59 p.m. Finally, taxis: stop from 00.01 to 23.59 on 13 December 2024 including the first shift for shift workers, subject to the guarantee of essential services and compliance with the guarantee periods, in accordance with the regulations in force.

The stand-off between Matteo Salvini and the grassroots unions went on for days: the meeting on Tuesday 10 December between the parties to try to avert the strike on Friday 13 December, which will also involve public transport, had ended without any agreement. Salvini had decided to pre-empt the protesting workers and to reduce the mobilisation from 24 to 4 hours. "We are 10 days from Christmas," he explained, "there is also the right to work, health, and mobility, so I personally signed to reduce the transport stop to 4 hours and not 24. "The national strike in the intentions of the unions should be 24 hours in the public and private sectors: it will involve trains, metro, buses, taxis, and maritime transport. Excluded instead is the aviation sector, which will demonstrate on 15 December. Proclaiming the agitation this time was the basic trade union Usb and also joined by Fi-si and Usb Lavoro Privato. The general strike of 29 November had been called by CGIL and UIL.

Salvini wants to propose new rules on strikes. 'The right to strike belongs to everyone, it is in the Constitution,' the deputy prime minister and League leader premised, 'but it will be opportune to review the legislation. And he announced: 'I will bring it to the table of the majority but in the same interest of workers and unions'. "If you have to go on strike every day, because since this government took office we have arrived at a thousand strikes," he concludes, "it means that the very instrument of the strike no longer works.