Italy National Strikes October 20 - 21

3 suggestions: 1. Go to Rome 2 days before your flight which would be before the strike. 2. Check the buses from Florence to Rome. 3. Fly from Florence to Rome.
A few years ago going from Cinque Terra to Siena via Lucca, we got caught by rolling strikes and had to scramble to get a bus from Viareggio to Lucca where we were staying for 2 nights. Later we were in Florence where the strikers, especially teachers, held a peaceful protest parade through the centre of Florence.

Book the Florence-Rome train with Italotreno.

Freccia employees rarely go on strike, Italo's have gone twice in 15 years.

Note that it could be called off between now and October 20.

Babyboomer and Dario, thanks for the replies. I plan to monitor the strike info for a while. As a Plan B, I'm leaning towards leaving Florence a day early. I have a hotel reservation in Fiumicino for the night before my flight, so may just add the extra day there and go to Ostia Antica and maybe the beach.
I welcome any others' suggestions.

well this explains why I was having trouble finding tickets from Catania to Rome on Oct 20.

I see a General Strike set for October 21 on the Italian calendar of strikes. ( There actually is a calendar of strikes scheduled in Italy that is put together months in advance and published). The Italian General Strike in October marks the centennial of the General Strike of 1922 when Italians protested against their new government led by Benito Mussolini. It may be advisable to leave for Rome the day before on October 20 as a General Strike may make transit generally a mess on October 21 in ways difficult to predict. Trenitalia guarantees minimum transport services on trains between 6am and 9 am and again between 6 pm and 9pm. International trains to Italy will continue to run, as will some of the fast trains within Italy. City buses, trams and metro services are expected to be affected by the strike. Taxis may become difficult to get. Itabus is an alternative to intercity trains and has many afternoon departures from Florence arriving 3 hrs 15 minutes later in Rome. There are two noon buses, a bus at 13:35, and several between 14:00 and 16:00 and later as well. Check www.Busbud.com for schedules and fares. Even if intercity buses run on October 21, the bus lines will be heavily impacted should trains be cut back. So, if you absolutely need to be somewhere ( like an airport) by October 21, it’s still advisable to depart the day before the strike so you already are where you need to be for October 21 and 22.
For information about specific train schedules Italiarail can be contacted at: [email protected]
or by phoning toll-free from the US at (877) 375-7245.

Kenko, I hope that before scaring everybody with such advices you have checked which Unions are calling that strike.

A General Strike means that many unions will
be participating. 🇮🇹. Italy’s October General Strike has historically seen heavy participation by unions in transportation— trains, city buses, trams and metro lines. This October’s strike has seven unions taking part—including Italy’s largest union, the CUB— which has 500,000 members. The USB union, which has 250,000 members, will also take part. For more information about how the strike might affect your train travel plans. Italiarail can be contacted at: [email protected]; or by phoning Italiarail toll-free from the US at (877) 375-7245.
Italiarail says the Leonardo daVinci Express Train linking Rome’s Fiumocino Airport with downtown Rome’s Termini train station WILL be unaffected by the strike and will have trains running on October 21.

Looking or some additional guidance on this topic. I clicked the link to the strike calendar and noticed that there is a strike date listed From 18/09/2022 to 19/09/2022 that is "Active" and is for "Rail Transport" for "TRENITALIA TPER SCARL" and lists the Geographical scope as EMILIA ROMAGNA with a Relevance of "Regional" Modality for "ALL MOBILE STAFF"

This is our first trip to Italy and we purchased tickets for a fast train from Bologna to Rome during this strike time. Does this mean the fast train will not be running? Oh my...I sure hope I am reading this incorrectly. Help!

including Italy’s largest union, the CUB— which has 500,000 members.

The CUB is not Italy's largest union. The 3 confederal unions have more than 11 million members: 5 millions the CGIL, 4 millions the CISL and 2.3 millions the UIL. Together they call real national and general strikes. The Trinity brought 2 millions people to the streets of Rome and made the first Berlusconi Government fall, nevertheless they have never been able to block Italotreno's high speed trains.

One thing among the others: ItaliaRail can only tell us the list of Trenitalia's guaranteed trains, nothing more because workers have no obligation to tell anyone if they are going to join a strike or not.

PS
Incidentally Mussolini became prime minister on the 31st of October 1922. The famous "last strike" (last till March 1943) ended in August 1922 and, sadly, was a failure that paved the road for a Fascist Government.

Bologna to Rome during this strike time. Does this mean the fast train will not be running?

No, high speed trains are not run by Tper and, for obvious reasons, they do not fall into the category of Regional trains.

Thank you so much; you have made me feel much better. I appreciate the accurate information. (o;

Dario, The individual labor unions in Italy are organized in various federations such as CGIL and CISL that you referred to. The numbers in the millions you’ve referred to include a lot of members of different unions in the confederation. And about half of the 5.5 million in CGIL and half of the 4 million in CISL are retired pensioners who are no longer working. The numbers you cited are the total combined membership in the federation of many separate unions—not the total number of members in a single union. I imagine it’s similar to the AFL-CIO here in the US. I am only relaying information from press reports and websites that appear to be authoritative, including “TheLocal.it” which is a publication covering Italian labor unions and has weighed in on the October 21 strike. If you are saying that all Frecce trains of Trenitalia will run as scheduled on October 21– that is not what I am seeing online. I’m reading that some may run- but not all of them. And that is the specific concern of the OP.
It appears that Italiarail can at least provide travelers who e-Mail or phone them with a list of “guaranteed trains” that will run on 10/21.