If there's one thing you need to know about Europe, it's that strikes happen. A lot. And it's common across most European countries. This is the kind of thing you should always try to factor into your travel plans. If you do your research, you'll find that the vast majority of strikes are planned out well in advance with plenty of notification. That doesn't mean that they won't distrupt your trip, of course. You just have time to mitigate the damage caused.
Rome, Italy has a few strikes coming up at different times in March, all of which will certainly impact travel throughout the city and region. A big one will happen on March 18 and 19. This will see railway workers walk off the job for 24 hours at Trenitalia, Italo, Trenord and Trenitalia Tper. Additionally, there will be a second eight hour strike on March 19 the UGL Ferrovieri, FAST-Confsal, and ORSA Trasporti trade unions leading to even more railway workers being off the job.
If you're flying into or out of Rome on March 16, you should definitely keep an eye on what's going on at the airport. Baggage handlers are going on a 24 hour strike which will inevitably lead to massive disruptions in baggage services. On top of that, the company that maintains and operates air traffic control systems is going on a four hour strike that day. While that might seem short, it means that flight traffic in Rome will be heavily impacted during that time. All flights will likely be grounded.
March 8 is the one travelers headed to Rome may want to highlight on their itineraries. This is the date of the national general strike. That means pretty much everything is shutting down for the day. That includes all transit systems as well as potential disruptions in virtually every other system and service. More details about what exactly will be impacted will be released closer to the date. You'll want to make travel arrangements that allow you to avoid this one.