The 24-hour national strike of all railway workers called by USB, for all rail transport workers, carried out in conjunction with the National Assembly of train drivers and on-board staff, is coming to an end.
A strike that saw a large adhesion by all the staff of the companies involved: with an average of 75% among the railway workers of the operation and peaks of 100% in some territories with a large number of trains cancelled or heavily delayed. The workers, in their seventh strike, have once again given a clear and increasingly strong signal.
In addition to the large and now constant participation of the drivers and on-board staff, very good signals also came from the other railway sectors such as Sales and Service, Maintenance, and traffic workers (station masters), who crossed their arms in a blockade in some plants.
All of this taking into account the illegitimate and instrumental intervention of the Guarantee Governmental Commission about the strikes, which with an unprecedented act prevented USB from implementing the reduced scale envisaged in these cases; it is easy to imagine even higher numbers otherwise. Reduction of the strike probably instigated by the counterpart in an attempt to diminish the enormous scale of this struggle.
In short, another great act of strength and dignity of the sector!
But we are striking at the weekend, despite the rantings of the transport minister, in order not to burden all the other workers and commuters who need rail transport to get to work.
USB has chosen to organize the strike in support of clear demands on a platform built from the bottom up: serious measures to protect the health, safety and security of those who work on the tracks, the recognition of hard work for railway workers, a reduction in working hours, more rest, adequate salary and professional recognition, as well as the issues of trade union democracy, worker participation and the defence of the right to strike, which have become a real emergency in the railways.
Now even some of the signatory organisations are denouncing (belatedly) the ‘wage issue’ in our country: we take note of these intentions but note that they are constantly contradicted by the content of the agreements that are signed, as recently in the ports.
The railway workers today have made their voice heard unequivocally by the companies and unions that signed them, and we are ready to resume the struggle with all the tools at our disposal.
We will not give up!
Today’s railway strike recalls the issues on which USB has chosen to call a general strike on 13 December in a clear and consistent way: against the impoverishment linked to the war economy and decades of wage moderation, to stop the endless slaughter at work, for the defence of public services and against the new decree-law 1660, which wants to cancel the freedom of dissent and demonstration.
That is why we are making this day of struggle available to the railway workers, as well as to all Italian working men and women!
