Commuters in Italy’s business capital endured a ‘black Friday’ on 9 October as unions AL Cobas and Confial staged a 24-hour strike at Azienda Trasporti Milanesi (ATM). Service was guaranteed only during legally mandated windows (start-of-service–08:45 and 15:00–18:00). Outside those periods the city’s core metro lines M1, M2 and M3 shut down, while surface buses and trams ran with extended headways. The newer M4 and M5 automated lines operated normally. The walk-out—a protest over wage erosion, outsourcing plans and housing for new hires—hit just as thousands of visitors arrived for Milan Fashion Week’s autumn preview. Taxi queues stretched 200 metres outside Stazione Centrale and rideshare surge pricing reached €42 for a 4-kilometre trip, according to local mobility app Wetaxi. Trenord regional trains and the Malpensa Express were not involved, allowing many international travellers to bypass the disruption by switching to rail. From a corporate-travel perspective, the biggest impact was on last-mile journeys. Several multinational offices in Porta Nuova and Assago instructed employees to work remotely after midday, while event organisers arranged shuttle buses from suburban hotels. Companies with posted workers in Milan should remember that Italian law obliges employers to reimburse verified additional transport costs during strikes if travel is essential to fulfilling the assignment contract. Although ATM reported only medium-level participation (around 18 % of operating staff), the action illustrates how fragmented union landscape can paralyse key nodes. Another 24-hour strike by national rail signalers is scheduled for 12–13 October, meaning mobility managers may need contingency plans throughout next week. Key lesson: build clause-by-clause strike protocols into short-term assignment letters—especially in Italy’s large cities, where rolling walk-outs increasingly target peak travel windows.
Source: Il Giorno
