Italy's official strike watchdog, the Commissione di Garanzia, reported that labor disruptions in 2025 reached 1,020 actions nationwide, a 5.5% decline from the previous year—but the picture proved more complex than the headline suggested. While the overall trajectory pointed downward, general strikes doubled from 17 in 2024 to 33 in 2025, overwhelmingly organized by smaller, grassroots unions rather than the traditional confederations. For residents and commuters, this shift translated to fewer total strikes but more days of coordinated, wide-reaching disruptions that hit multiple sectors simultaneously.
Why This Matters
• Transport disruptions remained heaviest: Local public transport (TPL) accounted for a significant share of labor actions, with disruptions intensifying in 2025.
• 72.5% of strikes were local: Nearly three out of four labor actions occurred at the regional or city level, meaning impacts varied widely by municipality.
• Grassroots unions drove general strikes: The surge in economy-wide stoppages came almost exclusively from base unions (sindacalismo di base), not CGIL, CISL, or UIL.
The Watchdog's Annual Report
Commission President Paola Bellocchi presented the 2025 annual review, highlighting a three-year contraction of 9.6% in strike activity since 2023, when 1,129 actions were recorded. However, the institution's mediation efforts meant that only about two-thirds of the proclaimed strikes actually materialized—a significant gap between announced and implemented actions. Bellocchi's office attributed this attrition to early-stage conciliation and union self-restraint, though critics argued it also reflected regulatory pressure on smaller unions operating within Italy's restrictive Law 146/90 framework for essential services.
The watchdog singled out the transport passenger sector as the primary flashpoint, noting that local bus and tram services—grouped under the Trasporto Pubblico Locale (TPL) umbrella—experienced the greatest disruptions. Other segments such as rail, air, and maritime transport showed signs of cooling, with both railroads and aviation posting fewer work stoppages.
What Drove the General Strike Surge
The doubling of general strikes reflected a strategic split within Italy's labor movement. While the major confederations—CGIL, CISL, and UIL—had historically acted in concert, 2025 saw open fractures. CGIL, the most combative of the trio, called a solo general strike in December against the 2026 budget, marking a break from UIL and creating distance from CISL, which pursued separate negotiations with employers and government. UIL had previously joined CGIL in a coordinated action (against the 2025 budget), but by year-end the partnership had fractured.
Into that void stepped grassroots federations—S.I. Cobas, USB, and others—whose demands extended beyond wage disputes to encompass broader concerns. This ideological breadth appealed to sectors frustrated by traditional unions' perceived moderation, particularly in logistics, factories, and transport.
Local Transport: The Persistent Pressure Point
For anyone relying on buses or trams in Italian cities, transport disruptions in 2025 represented a significant concern. The sector's labor disputes centered on several key issues:
• Stalled contract renewal: The national collective agreement for bus and tram workers covering 2024–2026 remained contentious, with unions demanding wage improvements and employers citing resource constraints from the National Transport Fund after years of budget cuts.
• Chronic understaffing: Driver numbers have declined over the decade, and entry barriers remain steep with prospective drivers facing substantial licensing and certification costs. The result included service cancellations and longer shifts for existing staff.
• Safety concerns: Ticket inspectors and drivers reported rising aggression from passengers, adding pressure for protective measures.
• Tender chaos: Many service contracts expired or faced renewal in 2026, but procurement processes were delayed by appeals and market fragmentation.
Practical Information for Residents and Commuters
The shift toward fewer but more disruptive general strikes meant planning became harder for daily commuters. While a localized TPL strike can often be anticipated with advance notice (as Law 146/90 requires for essential services), general strikes called by multiple base unions could coincide, creating compound disruptions across intercity rail, flights, and urban buses on the same day.
How to Track Upcoming Strikes:
• Check the Commissione di Garanzia's public calendar before travel days
• Consult local transport authority websites (your city's TPL operator website typically posts strike notices)
• Note that Law 146/90 requires 10 days' advance notice for essential service strikes, giving residents time to plan
• Understand that minimum service guarantees typically protect peak commute hours and school transport routes
For foreign residents unfamiliar with Italy's fragmented union landscape, distinguishing between a major confederation strike (which typically includes minimum service guarantees and defined time bands) and a base union stoppage (which may be less predictable) is increasingly important.
Sectoral Winners and Losers
While TPL dominated labor conflicts, other sectors showed divergence:
• Banking and credit: Experienced structural reductions in strike activity, likely reflecting workforce changes and digitalization.
• Waste collection: Also recorded fewer actions, despite ongoing privatization debates.
• Healthcare and education: Historically sources of tension as public-sector wage constraints persisted.
The report's data underscored that most labor conflict remained highly localized, tied to specific companies, municipalities, or regional contracts. National coordination by the big three confederations had weakened, leaving space for base unions to claim leadership on systemic issues—even if their membership remained smaller than the established confederations.
The Political Context
The shift in strike organization reflected broader tensions within Italy's labor movement over strategy and priorities. Base unions' growing visibility in 2025 signaled frustration with wage stagnation and working conditions that traditional unions had not fully addressed, particularly in transport and logistics sectors critical to residents' daily lives.
Looking Ahead
With 2026 marking a critical year for TPL tender renewals and new rounds of public-sector contract negotiations approaching, future strike activity remained uncertain. The regulatory framework itself continued to be contested: base unions argued that Law 146/90 disproportionately constrained their right to strike, while employers and government officials cited the law as essential to protecting public access to transport, healthcare, and utilities.
For now, the message from the Commissione di Garanzia was clear: Italy's strike landscape in 2025 shifted toward fewer total actions but more concentrated, coordinated disruptions, with grassroots unions successfully leveraging general strikes to amplify demands that traditional labor organizations had struggled to address.
