God Has a Sense of Humor (or at least whimsy)

Today we were scheduled to take the train from Firenze to Rome, but could not because of my mom's hospitalization. Coincidentally (?) there is a transportation strike in Italy today. It's called a sciopero (pronounced SHO-per-o) and is planned and announced in advance. To me, that seems to lessen the impact of the strike when the public knows in advance and can work around it. What's the point?