Mobility

Transport heading for a Black Friday: trains, planes and local services at risk

The national strike called by Usb, Sbg and Cub. Trade unions demand wage increases against inflation and reduction of working hours

by M.Mor.

18 June 2025

3' min read

Key points

Discomfort
The motivations

3' min read

Friday 20 June will be a black day for Italian transport. Yet another black Friday. Several unions (including Usb, Sbg and Cub) have proclaimed a national strike that will involve the entire sector: from trains to planes, via local public transport, motorways and ports.

The inconvenience

Underlying the mobilisation, the unions point to economic and contractual reasons: in particular, the adjustment of salaries to the high cost of living and the demand for a reduction in working hours. The train stop will begin at 9 p.m. on Thursday 19 June and will end at 9 p.m. the following day. Involved will be the staff of the Ferrovie dello Stato group, Italo and Trenord. Essential services will be guaranteed in the 6-9 a.m. and 6-9 p.m. time slots. The railway companies advise passengers to consult their websites for up-to-date information on guaranteed routes and cancellations. In the event of train cancellations, tickets will be refunded in full. Captrain Italia, active in rail freight transport, will also strike from 1pm to 9pm on Friday.

Disruptions also occur at airports, where the strike of ground staff (baggage handlers, shuttle bus drivers and ground handling staff) is scheduled for the whole day on Friday, from midnight to 23.59.

As far as local public transport is concerned, in Rome Atac and Cotral will guarantee service in the protected time slots: early in the morning and between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Atm, the company that manages public transport in Milan, explains that the service is not guaranteed from 8.45 a.m. to 3 p.m. and after 6 p.m., until the end of the service.

Finally, disruptions are also expected on motorways: staff will be on strike from 10pm on Thursday 19 June until 10pm on Friday 20 June.

The motivations

The strike was proclaimed 'against war, the war economy and the increase in military spending, in addition to the 40 billion euro already planned for the current three-year period. For peace also in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and investments in health, schooling, transport, welfare whose worsening deepens existing inequalities and poverty'.

Furthermore, the trade unions Cub, Sgb and Usb call for a protest "against exploitation at work, precariousness and wage restraint both in the renewal of public and private sector contracts, by trade unions that sign unpopular agreements and often without submitting them to workers' approval. For strong increases in wages and pensions, including the minimum of one thousand euros per month and the overcoming of the contributory system, so as to recover purchasing power eroded by inflation, for the approval of a minimum wage measure of no less than 12 euros per hour and for the reintroduction of a mechanism to adjust wages to the trend in the cost of living; against the absence of social policies, starting with the housing emergency and the lack of plans for the development of social housing, for a serious reform of social shock absorbers; against the absence of industrial policies capable of overcoming the phase of strong conflict, triggering a process of further deindustrialisation and exploitation of the working and grassroots classes; against the authoritarian choice of laws repressive of dissent and social conflict; against deaths at work; against the Sbarra law with which the government attempts to offload the business risk onto the workers with serious consequences on wages and working conditions".

Marco Morinovicecaporedattore
- @marcomorino
Luogo: Milano
Lingue parlate: Italiano, francese
Argomenti: Infrastrutture, trasporti, logistica
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