Rail Strikes Causes Chaos in Italy

A 24-hour strike by rail workers in Italy ended Sunday evening, having wreaked havoc on rail services across the country.

The strike began Saturday at 9:00 p.m. and was called by five independent rail union organizations to protest clauses in the national contract signed and sealed by the State Railways (FS) and the big three union confederations, and other problems in the sector including safety concerns.

According to the FS, only 31 percent of train drivers took part in the strike and 44 percent of trains were running as normal, although it admitted that services in the northeast in particular, along the Milan-Bologna line and the Adriatic coast, suffered severe disruption.

In Milan and Rome, trains were at a complete standstill, while at the railway station in Naples, frustration among travelers was such that scuffles broke out at information and ticket points. The strike followed Friday's four-hour wildcat walkout by flight controllers, which forced the cancellation of hundreds of domestic and international flights and grounded an estimated 150, 000 furious passengers at Milan and Rome airports.

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