Rome transport workers are expected to hold a four-hour strike on Monday evening, coinciding perfectly with Italy’s opening Euro 2016 fixture.
Workers from Rome’s transport authority, Atac, will stop work between 8.30pm and 12.30am, a time-frame which will allow striking workers to watch the Azzurri take on Belgium at 9pm.
The coincidence has not gone unnoticed.
“Casually, a union calls a strike that coincides with a football match,” Rome mayoral candidate Roberto Giachetti was reported as saying in Repubblica.
The strike is expected to affect the city’s buses, trams and underground trains as well as some overland train services across the Lazio region.
However, the union which called the strike, UGL, claims the timing was chosen to minimize discomfort to the city’s residents.
“The timing is aimed at reducing disruption, given that most people will be at home watching the game,” the union said in a note.
The four-hour strike kicks off a chaotic week of industrial action in Rome.
http://www.thelocal.it/20160613/rome-transport-workers-strikeduring-italys-first-euro-match