General Strike in Italy: Protests Continue

The general strike in Italy on October 30 sparked a wave of continued protests: At a rally at the Colosseum on Sunday, the grassroots union Unione Sindacale di Base (USB) announced a national demonstration for December 12. At the same time, official partial figures now available provide more details on participation in the public sector. A complete tally of canceled public transportation services, school classes, and medical appointments is still not available in the sources reviewed for this report.

The impact of Friday's events varied greatly from place to place. There is evidence of temporary highway closures near Milan and Bologna, as well as delays caused by a track occupation in Perugia. In addition, there were reports of local transit operating as usual. A look back at the Day of Protest on October 30 must therefore distinguish between work stoppages, protest blockades, and precautionary security measures.

As of November 1, 2026, 4:58 p.m. CET, local time in Italy. Participation figures reflect the survey dates explicitly stated for each figure.

Following the general strike in Italy: New demonstration announced

After a ANSA report dated November 1 The USB announced the demonstration at the National Assembly with students and activists at the Colosseum. Until then, it plans to organize further actions together with student and housing movements. The announced demonstration is thus a new political event; the announcement does not indicate a new nationwide transportation strike.

After Friday’s march, the protesters set up a tent camp at the Fori Imperiali. On Sunday, according to the union as reported by ANSA, they moved their tents to the Colosseum. Their demands are directed against the high cost of living, military buildup, and the policies of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government.

What do the official ownership data show?

The preliminary report from the Dipartimento della Funzione Pubblica, the government department responsible for the civil service, indicates a total of 65,180 strikers based on GEPAS reports received by 7:00 p.m. on October 30. The participation rate calculated in the report is 6.75 percent. This figure applies to the government agencies and institutions included in the data, not to all employees in Italy, nor to the people participating in the demonstrations.

The file includes a total of 1,146,729 employees. To calculate the percentage, 181,594 people who were not on duty for reasons other than the strike are excluded. For this reason, too, it would be incorrect to simply extrapolate the rate to all employees or to the number of affected users of public services. The report explicitly notes that the figures are preliminary; it does not specify a coverage rate for the entire public sector.

Schools: Participation Is Not the Same as the Class Cancellation Rate

For the „Istruzione Ricerca“ sector—that is, education and research—the GEPAS database lists 48,167 strikers and a participation rate of 7.22 percent. In this sector, 746,113 employees were recorded; 79,030 were absent for other reasons. The sector is defined more broadly than mere school statistics.

In addition, according to the specialized portal Orizzonte Scuola, the Ministry of Education had reported a preliminary participation rate of 7.57 percent for the school sector as of 5:00 p.m. on Friday. At that time, 54.73 percent of schools had submitted data. The two reports use different reference points and survey statuses. Therefore, they should neither be conflated nor treated as final results.

None of these figures indicate how many schools remained closed or how many class hours were canceled. Student demonstrations and blocked school entrances are also separate events. For the reports from Bologna, the responsible school authority set the deadline for submitting participation data as November 3. A final assessment is therefore premature at this time.

Health Care Services: Initial Staffing Figures, Unresolved Service Balance

In the healthcare sector, the official partial survey reports 1,618 strikers and a participation rate of 1.16 percent. A total of 200,916 employees were reported, of whom 60,870 were absent for reasons other than the strike. These figures reflect the work stoppage reported to GEPAS, not the care provided to all patients in Italy.

It was not possible to determine a reliable national figure for postponed examinations, canceled appointments, or postponed surgeries for this report. Such a figure cannot be calculated based on the staffing ratio: The impact depends, among other things, on which services and occupational groups were affected.

The health authorities USL Toscana Nord-Ovest and ASL Toscana Sud-Est had previously announced possible changes to scheduled services and pledged to ensure essential and urgent care. These announcements were precautionary notices. Taken on their own, they do not prove that treatment cancellations actually occurred or that operations were entirely uninterrupted.

Rail and Local Transit: Scheduled Service vs. Actual Service

Following the ministerial order to postpone the strike, the FS state railway group had stated that trains would operate according to the normal schedule. Trenord, the Lombardy regional rail operator, also declared the previously announced strike-related changes to be null and void. Both documents describe the planned operational arrangements and do not serve as a substitute for subsequent statistics on each train that ran.

There was one specifically documented disruption in Perugia Fontivegge. According to a local report by Perugia Tomorrow, two trains were delayed due to protesters on the tracks. Citing police sources, the website reported that all tracks were cleared by around 1:00 p.m. and service had resumed. The cause here was a track blockade as part of the protest.

For Naples, ANSA reported at 9:48 a.m. on Friday that train, bus, and metro service was operating normally, including services provided by Sita Sud and Air Campania. The report reflects the situation in that transportation area at that time. It does not provide a basis for calculating a nationwide or full-day service disruption rate.

Air Travel and the Relocation Order

The postponement ordered by the Ministry of Transportation included, among other things, air travel, taxis, public transit, rail, and maritime transport. The reason given was the strike-free period surrounding the commemoration of the dead. The order applied to the transportation sectors specified therein; it did not completely lift the general strike in schools, health care services, and other sectors.

The USB stood by its call to strike and contested the legality of the intervention. That was the union's position. A call to strike alone does not prove that a work stoppage actually took place or that a connection was lost.

With regard to air traffic, the updated research did not turn up a reliable nationwide list of flights canceled due to the strike. Therefore, it is not possible to quantify either a nationwide standstill or the complete absence of cancellations. The ministerial order is a legal requirement, not a retrospective assessment of airport operations.

Milan and Bologna: Road closures ended on Friday afternoon

For road traffic, specific updates on the situation have been provided by the operator, Autostrade per l’Italia. According to the operator, the demonstration in the Milan area ended around 5:15 p.m. Subsequently, the restrictions that had been put in place as a precaution were lifted, including those at the Melegnano exit on the A1, at the junctions of the A4 with the Tangenziali, and near Agrate.

At the Bologna interchange, the operator reported that the demonstration had ended around 5:30 p.m. The affected sections of the A14, the Casalecchio interchange, parts of the A13, and the city’s Tangenziale were reopened. The report at that time still noted that traffic backed up was gradually clearing. This information refers to Friday afternoon and does not constitute a current traffic advisory for Sunday.

The closures were the result of the demonstrations and the police measures taken to ensure public safety. They should not be broadly categorized as strike-related suspensions of highway operations when taking stock of the situation.

Ports: Operations at Access Roads and in Terminal Areas

Dockworkers also took part in the protests against arms shipments and military buildup. ANSA reported from Genoa that access to the Varco Albertazzi had been blocked and that a demonstration march had taken place through the port area. Regarding Massa Carrara, the agency reported, citing dockworkers, that loading and unloading operations had been interrupted.

The international participation figures cited by the organizers describe the extent of their mobilization. They are not independently verified statistics covering all ports that were completely closed. To assess the overall economic impact, data would be needed on, among other things, missed ship calls, cargo handled, and the duration of the disruptions. No such comprehensive overview was available in the sources reviewed.

Participant numbers and investigations remain separate figures

The figures regarding the number of demonstrators vary considerably. ANSA reported that the Ministry of the Interior had counted around 255,000 people. In its own assessment, the USB put the number of participants in the squares and streets at 1.5 million. These are figures on demonstration participation collected from various sources and do not represent the number of striking workers. Consequently, there is no independently verified combined total.

The main demonstrations were peaceful in many places; in Rome and Turin, clashes broke out between small groups and the police. In a report updated on Sunday, ANSA reported that in Rome, seven people were charged and 369 were identified. For Turin, the agency reported twelve charges filed and 256 individuals whose identities were verified. These local figures do not represent a national tally of arrests; furthermore, a charge does not equate to a conviction.

On Saturday, Digos and the postal police also conducted searches of about 60 people in 23 cities. The police statement reported by the Agenzia giornalistica Opinione also cites previous disturbances on October 17, 18, and 24, as well as alleged calls for violence on the Internet. To attribute the entire operation exclusively to Friday’s general strike would understate its described scope.

What consequences cannot yet be quantified?

Confirmed data includes isolated traffic disruptions, roads that have reopened, and preliminary participation figures from reporting public agencies. A comparable national assessment of the services actually lost and the economic damage remains to be determined. Participant numbers, staffing levels, and operational disruptions each address different questions.

The new demonstration date indicates, for now, that the organizers intend to continue their mobilization. Whether this will lead to further work stoppages or traffic disruptions depends on specific calls to action and company announcements. Further reports on the political background can be found in the section Politics; the Press Roundup for November 1 puts the current debate in the Italian media into context.