Trade union calls strike after transport workers excluded from priority sectors in Italy's covid-19 vaccination campaign.

Rome commuters face disruption to public transport services due to a four-hour strike on the evening of Friday 23 April, from 20.30 until end of service.

The nationwide action, called by members of the Orsa Trasporti trade union, will affect Rome's buses, metro, trams, railway services operated by ATAC, Roma TPL and Cotral.

The strike has been called in protest over the exclusion of public transport workers from the priority categories in Italy's covid-19 vaccination campaign, reports Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

• Guide to public transport in Rome

A statement from Orsa Trasporti says that its workers have faced the pandemic in a "commendable way," providing an uninterrupted service throughout the coronavirus emergency, despite the many difficulties.

"Considering the constant risk of contagion that these workers have endured for more than a year, we believe that the decision to exclude them from vaccination is an act that compromises their health as well as being an insult," read the statement from the union.

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