The Ordinance with which the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport on 12 December last ordered the reduction of the national transport strike of 15 December to four hours "
is affected by a violation of the law and by excess of power
due to lack of prerequisites, with reference to the impulse phase of the exercise of power". This is what the TAR of Lazio states in a sentence with which it brought together - accepting both - two appeals brought by Usb Lavoro Privato (the first) and by Cobas Lavoro Privato, Adl Cobas, Sgb, Cub Trasporti and AL Cobas (the second ).
The TAR, having rejected the preliminary objections, then concentrated on the complaint which complained about the failure to identify, in the contested order, the requirements of necessity and urgency which underpin the power of ministerial impulse. The judges, after confirming that "the power of officious initiative of the prime minister (or of the delegated ministry), precisely to limit 'political' interference on the right to strike as much as possible, is contemplated only in cases in which, in addition to the well-founded danger of serious and imminent damage to rights, the need and urgency to take action exist and are adequately explained in the relevant provision", they reported that the sector Authority "considered it appropriate only to adopt a formal invitation to the organizations trade unions to avoid the objective rarefaction of the strike, an invitation noted, but it deemed nothing necessary to recommend to the same organizations nor even to report to the Ministry regarding the adoption of the injunction order".
Thus, for the TAR, "
the clear explanation of the special reasons of necessity and urgency was indispensable
" such as to legitimize the Minister's intervention; but "
no adequate indication in this sense can be found in the
contested provision". And in doing so "the Dicastery ended up superimposing its own assessment on that of the sector Authority, altering the current regulatory structure on the matter".
The league's harsh reaction was immediate: "For the TAR, preventing the entire country from blocking and millions of Italians from being left stranded is an 'excess of power'. For us, the decision of the regional administrative court of Lazio, however, is
a forcing against common sense
. Minister Matteo Salvini has undertaken to reduce a strike to guarantee the right of commuters and all citizens to move freely, allowing them to use public transport.
This is the line and it will not change
. We are intent on protecting Italians, not Landini's long weekend", declared the deputies in the Transport Commission Elena Maccanti, Andrea Dara, Domenico Furgiuele, Riccardo Augusto Marchetti and Erik Pretto.
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