Transport strike in Italy due to the gas price hike begins on the March 14, 2022: what will be the consequences? Is Italy really in danger of being left with empty supermarkets?
Transport strike March 14, 2022: demonstrations expected throughout Italy
Expensive fuel is increasingly compromising the situation in Italy, which soon risks being paralysed. In fact, due to the increase in costs, trucking companies will suspend their services nationwide under the “force majeure” clause. In this context, the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is causing an incredible increase in fuel prices that is becoming difficult to sustain.
To highlight what is happening and the economic problems that are bothering transporters, therefore, Trasportounito, the national Association of Truckers and transporters, explained that a series of coordinated events have been organised to underline the state of extreme urgency.
The first effects of the strike are already beginning to manifest themselves throughout the country, with particular attention to Sardinia. In the Region, an island, supermarkets have been stormed for fear that they will soon be empty.
Reasons and duration of the transporters strike on 14 March 2022
With regard to the transporters strike starting on March 14, 2022, the National Transport Association sent a letter to the Prime Minister, the Minister and Deputy Minister of Sustainable Infrastructure and Mobility and the President of the Guarantee Commission for Strikes (given transport is an essential service). In the letter, the suspension of sector services is described as “inevitable” while the strike stems from the need to protect companies and workers from the increase in fuel prices. At the moment, in Italy, there is an average cost of 2.40-2.45 euros / liter for petrol and diesel which is 40% higher than prices before the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
At the moment, it has not yet been revealed how long the strike will last on Monday 14 March. In relation to the suspension of services, Unatras organized demonstrations by road transporters throughout the national territory on Saturday, 19 March. The note from the Union of road transport associations in Italy, in fact, conveys the following message: “The situation has become dramatic. Continuing to procrastinate, the Government undertakes the risk that spontaneous protest initiatives will arise again, as well as the responsibility of leaving clients without supplies ”.
Furthermore, Unatras declared that “further and more incisive initiatives” will follow at the demonstrations on 19 March.
Is Italy in danger of being left with empty supermarkets? The case of Sardinia
The greatest risk linked to the transporters strike is empty supermarkets: a danger that is arousing national fears. A continued strike in the sector would effectively block the distribution of foodstuffs in shops and supermarkets.
The first repercussions of the strike are becoming evident in regions such as Sardinia. Following the diffusion of an audio from a Sardinian transporter that declared a 15-day block of service, the terror of the paralysis that the island would encounter sparked an assault on supermarkets by the citizens. Many flocked to the shops to stock up on basic necessities.
On the current situation in Sardinia, one of the organizers of the Tramatza meeting, Massimiliano Serra, spoke and explained: “The strike will be voluntary, but the message must reach everyone. We are ready to paralyze the island to draw attention to an unsustainable situation. Not only diesel, which has now reached stellar prices, is also weighing on our pockets every day by the increase in costs for maritime transport, those for vehicle maintenance and tire replacement “.