Some workers of the Azienda Trasporti Milanesi (ATM), Milan’s public transportation company, are threatening to strike as the mandatory coronavirus pass comes into force in Italian workplaces.
The threats of strikes were revealed this week when a lawyer claimed that ATM workers were discussing the idea in online chats, threatening to block public transportation across the Italian city.
According to a report from Il Giornale, however, the likelihood of major disruptions may not be high. An estimated 90 per cent of ATM employees are currently vaccinated — but the newspaper notes that the few workers could still cause inconveniences.
A local tram driver with twenty years of experience in his position said that workers have become polarised over the vaccine passport, known as the Green Pass in Italy. While some workers have embraced the vaccine, others claim it is a “tool of dictatorship,” the tram driver said.
Friday marked the first day the Green Pass is required in workplaces across Italy. All workers in the public and private sectors must either be fully vaccinated, produce a negative Covid test, or prove immunity from having already had the disease.
On Friday, workers at the Port of Trieste and a crowd of an estimated 6,000 people gathered to protest the Green Pass.
Stefano Puzzer, spokesman for the Coordination of Port Workers of Trieste (CLPT), commented on the protest, saying: “From the state came an incitement to violence when they tried to buy us off by offering us free [Covid tests].”
“There are 400 dockers here today. For two years we worked in conditions where 10 per cent of the health protocol was respected: the only one who was interested in us was the Port Authority. In response, what have we been told? If you don’t have a Green Pass, you can’t work,” he complained.
Puzzer went on to state that the dockworkers would continue to protest until the Green Pass obligation was cancelled by the government.
Protests also emerged in Genoa on Friday at the ferry terminal and the international airport terminal, which were blocked by protestors against the Green Pass.
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