Today I returned from Romania, shaken by the first European case of elections to be redone due to illegitimate Russian influence, only to find Milan in chaos. A public transportation strike—once again on a Friday. The Regional Administrative Tribunal (TAR) rejected Transport Minister Salvini’s request for mandatory arbitration, resulting in a full 24-hour strike. “Wild,” as they used to call it. Translated: maximum disruption and inconvenience for fellow citizens, especially considering Christmas is just ten days away and urban mobility already feels more like a nightmare than a right. But speaking of rights, who’s in the right here—the unions or Salvini?
Let’s answer without falling into the usual ideological, black-and-white, 20th-century trap of master versus proletariat. Millennials wouldn’t understand it without a translator—try asking the HR heads of major companies, in Italy and beyond. To be clear, the right to strike is sacred. It was hard-won by workers and remains a cornerstone of labor rights. On the merits, the demands of any particular category deserve the utmost respect and understanding. However, there’s a “but.” What about the rights of all other citizens—in terms of mobility, time, lost wages, and peace of mind?
When a protest becomes systemic, happening nearly every Friday (as if divinely ordained, though divinity isn’t a very union-friendly concept), it must remain brief and ensure adequate service windows. Otherwise, the so-called “wild” strike invites other forms of savagery, turning democracy and its delicate balance into a jungle. This time, an urban jungle—but only the aesthetic worsens, not the unbridgeable gap of the 21st century.
