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Rome transport disruption averted as unions call off Monday strike

The first transport strike of the year in Italy has been cancelled after an agreement was reached between unions and Rome's public transport operator.

Published: 13 January 2023 17:52 CET

Roma Termini bus station in Rome, Italy

The planned January 16th strike by Atac and TPL staff was called off after an agreement was reached. Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP

Rome’s commuters won’t have to deal with delayed and crowded public transport services on Monday as feared, after unions on Friday said they had called off a planned public transport strike in the capital.

READ ALSO: Metro, bus or tram: Rome’s public transport explained

Staff from Rome’s public transport company Atac had planned to hold a four-hour strike on the morning of Monday, January 16th in protest over standards of maintenence on the network.

The protest was expected to cause widespread disruption for passengers travelling by bus, tram or metro within the city.

But the walkout was cancelled after unions and Atac reportedly managed to reach an agreement on the issues raised.

Strikes in Italy are scheduled well in advance – and listed on a handy calendar provided by the transport ministry – but are often later called off, in many cases at short notice.

You can keep up to date with the latest strike news from Italy HERE.

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Italy approves Holocaust museum for Rome after 20-year wait

A national museum in the capital would “contribute to keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive,” read a statement from the government after ministers agreed to fund the project late on Thursday.

The announcement came on the heels of an official visit to Rome last week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano said 10 million euros had been allocated to begin construction of the museum, a long-delayed project first proposed in the 1990s.

Ruth Dureghello, head of Rome’s Jewish community, welcomed the news but called for “definite timeframes and choices that can be made quickly to guarantee the capital of Italy a museum like all the great European capitals”.

READ ALSO: Stumble stones: How Rome’s smallest monuments honour Holocaust victims

The architect in charge of the project, Luca Zevi, told AFP the museum should be completed in three years.

Dopo vent’anni prende forma il Museo della Shoah di Roma. Ecco come sarà (di A. Marrocco) https://t.co/B2t8kfMIrR

— L'HuffPost (@HuffPostItalia) March 17, 2023

Symbolically, the museum will be built on land adjacent to the park of Villa Torlonia, the residence of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, who was in power from 1922 to 1943.

Mussolini introduced racial laws in 1938 that began stripping civil rights from Jews in Italy and culminating in their deportation.

On October 16, 1943, German troops supported by Italian Fascist officials raided Rome’s ancient Ghetto, rounding up and deporting about 1,000 Jewish people.

READ ALSO: Four places to remember the Holocaust in Italy

Subsequent roundups captured another 800 people, and nearly all were killed in the concentration camp of Auschwitz.

The Holocaust saw the genocide of six million European Jews between 1939 and 1945 by the Nazis and their supporters.

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