How about invading some train tracks?

I'm tired of strikes! I can't stand them any longer!

Two days ago I had a meeting in Roma, so I decided to take the train because it's a much more comfortable way to travel. I can move, eat, read, get lost in my thought and not run the danger of being smashed by some truck that decided to cruise the highway at 170Km/h. I was just arriving to the train station when I start hearing strange noises - horns and people shouting. I turn to towards the source of the noise and I see a crazy sea of people wavering red flags.

When they arrive to the station they go directly to the lines and settle there in the middle of tracks, where in just 5 minutes my Rome heading train was going to arrive!! I couldn't believe my luck. The information board suddenly came alive with the delay updates - the smallest delay was of 40 minutes. My Roma bound train showed a 1h delay. If the track invasion had not convinced me that my trip was going nowhere, that board did it. I went to the ticket office to look for a reimbursement. As I was in the ticket office line the delay times in the board had a life of their own. In a couple of minutes my train's delay was already in 1H20m.

After getting my money back, I decided to find out what was going on. I went outside and the hell was loose there. Hundreds of people with red flags filled the tracks.

They were protesting against the lack of agreement regarding the new labor contract of the metal workers (Metalmeccanici). It seems that they wanted a €100 euro monthly raise and the industry said that wouldn't raise that high. So they decided to go out and make the life all the other Italians a hell by cutting highway and train tracks.

I'm ok with strikes to be used in certain situations and people fighting for their rights. But I'm not ok at all, with people lacking respect to others. Imagine that someone had to go to Roma to a urgent doctor appoitment due to a life threatening diseasee? Is all those people their raise increases more important than one single persons health situation? I don't think so.

They could be creative and do other forms of protest, like for example invading RAI and stopping all those crappy TV shows. I would even join them!

(All photos are from the Il Resto del Carlino newspaper)