Unions call on workers to “block everything” in protest over government’s “war budget”.
Italian trade unions USB and CUB have called a national general strike for public and private sectors on Friday 29 November in protest over the government’s 2026 budget bill.
The USB is demanding that all national contracts “guarantee at least €2,000 as a minimum starting wage and base pay”, describing it as an amount that represents “the absolute minimum to guarantee a decent wage and allow for the recovery of the enormous wage losses accumulated over the last 30 years”.
In a statement, the union said it was unacceptable to continue to raise the retirement age, “which should instead be brought back to 62”, claiming that people in Italy “work too much and for starvation wages”.
The USB claimed that banks have “raked in extra profits and are starving the country”, demanding that they “pay the price”, and called on the government to invest in social housing and healthcare instead of “buying and manufacturing new weapons”.
The USB also called on workers to once again “block everything” – as was done during the recent mass rallies for Gaza – and join the protest against the “war budget”.
The strike is set to involve railway workers from 21.00 on Thursday 27 November until the same time the next day, while for healthcare workers, the strike will run from the first shift on Thursday night until the last shift the next day.
The unions are planning protests in cities across Italy on Saturday 29 November, with a national demonstration set to take place in Rome.
More details are expected to be announced nearer the time of the strike.
We update our news of public transport strikes in Italy regularly. For official information see the transport ministry website. Photo credit: Vincenzo Lauricella / Shutterstock.com.
