It can feel as if there’s a transport strike in Italy every week, and each one raises the same question for passengers: will my train, bus or flight actually run? While strikes are called often, only a small percentage of staff actually participate in most of them.
Besides the three major national unions, CGIL, CISL and UIL, hundreds of smaller unions call their own strikes, often at a regional or local level. Few of these walkouts are disruptive enough to get a response from employers, so the unions keep calling more.
Usually, only 3 to 20 percent of transport staff members take part in a strike.
For example, in Milan, 3.8 percent of public transport workers walked off the job during a strike called by the Confial union last November. The most recent strike for which data is available shows that 15.3 percent of Milan transport staff participated in a June strike, also organised by the Confial union.
READ ALSO: Inside Italy: The number of strikes is falling, but passengers might not believe it
However, these are all-staff averages, which means that transport services could still stop on a low-turnout day if most of those taking part are drivers.
So even though only a very small percentage of the many transport strikes announced in Italy actually cause much disruption – and plenty are called off before the date comes around – there's no sure way to tell in advance whether or not it will actually cause chaos for passengers.
There are a few clues to look out for, including who’s organising the strike, the city or region it’s set to impact, and whether there are current events driving the move.
Turnout often depends on which union calls the strike.
Strikes with the highest worker participation rates tend to be joint actions organised with at least one of the big three national associations (CISL, UIL or CGIL).
It also depends on the local and regional context, as union chapters have varying degrees of strength and influence.
Current events are perhaps even more important in swaying worker participation in strikes.
Going on strike for better pay, more secure contracts or better working conditions are general demands made by workers throughout the year. But sometimes strike actions are in response to particular circumstances, which was the case in Bologna over the summer.
In June, 90 percent of public transport workers in Bologna went on strike after a bus driver was attacked by an aggressive passenger who bit off part of his ear.
More generally, the US war on Iran has been a key motivator cited by many strike calls in Italy this year.
If it feels like the transport strikes in Italy never stop, or are getting worse, you might be surprised to hear that the statistics show they're actually decreasing.
A decade ago, Italian unions called around 2,260 strikes a year; last year it was closer to 1,560, equal to four strikes for every single day of the year. Not all of these go ahead, but more than a third of those that do impact the transport sector.
How effective strikes are is difficult to measure, but it generally takes a long time (and many walk-outs) to achieve anything at all.
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