Unions Vow to Defy Minister's Order Against Friday's Transport Strike

Italy's transport minister on Tuesday ordered transport workers not to take part in Friday's general strike, and the unions said they would defy the order, The Local Italy reported. The same outlet said protests and walkouts in schools and hospitals were still set to go ahead in dozens of towns and cities.

The order makes the government a party to the dispute rather than an arbiter of it. The Local reported that Friday's stoppage would be the country's second general strike of the month, called amid unrest over the cost of living, with rallies planned in cities across Italy.

No detail is given on which transport services the order covers, on what legal basis it was issued, or on any sanction the ministry has threatened. What the wire records is a sequence — an order from the ministry, then a public refusal from the unions — without describing the machinery between the two.