Italy braces for 24-hour nationwide strike on 29 May: major travel disruption expected

Italy is headed for a fresh day of industrial unrest at the end of the month after a coalition of base unions – CUB, SGB, ADL Varese, SI-Cobas and USI-CIT – confirmed on 24 May that they will press ahead with a 24-hour general strike on Friday 29 May 2026. Unlike recent sector-specific walk-outs, the action will span the entire transport system. According to the Ministry of Transport’s official strike register, air-traffic personnel will stop work from 00:00 to 23:59, rail workers from 21:00 on 28 May to 21:00 on 29 May, local public-transport operators will follow territorial timetables, ferry crews serving the smaller islands will strike for the full day and motorway service-area staff will down tools between 22:00 on 28 May and 22:00 on 29 May. Guaranteed-service windows will apply, but businesses should expect significant cancellations and delays across all modes of travel. The unions say the protest targets “war spending, precarious work and government ‘security decrees’ that repress dissent”. While political in origin, the breadth of the mobilisation means it will hit corporate mobility programmes hard. Employers moving staff between Italian cities, moving freight by road or ferry, or flying personnel into hubs such as Rome-Fiumicino and Milan-Malpensa should activate contingency plans and keep travellers informed in real time. Airlines are expected to publish lists of protected flights 48 hours before the strike, but seat availability is likely to tighten as passengers re-book. Rail operators Trenitalia and Italo will run a skeleton timetable restricted to ‘essential’ services, while urban networks in cities such as Florence, Milan and Rome will only guarantee services during the morning and late-afternoon peak. Road hauliers face possible queueing at toll plazas and restrictions on exceptional transports. Multinationals with time-sensitive supply chains should consider re-routing through neighbouring countries or advancing shipments. Business-visas holders scheduled to sign contracts or attend meetings on 29 May may need to reschedule, and relocation teams should warn assignees whose residence-permit appointments fall on the strike day to reconfirm with local questure.



For anyone needing to rearrange visa applications or secure last-minute travel documents because of the walk-out, VisaHQ offers a quick, fully online service that can help keep plans on track. Through its Italy portal (https://www.visahq.com/italy/), the platform handles business, tourist and residence-permit processing, books consular or questura appointments, and provides real-time status updates—giving travellers and mobility managers vital flexibility when strikes threaten to upend schedules.

In past nationwide stoppages, some prefectures have postponed biometric-capture sessions, extending processing times by weeks. With further protests mooted for June, mobility managers are advised to review force-majeure clauses in service-level agreements and update traveller-tracking tools so they can locate personnel quickly during rolling disruptions.