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Unions close deal to save troubled Italian airline
30 September 2008
Unions representing civil aviation workers at Italy’s national airline have sealed a deal with a group of investors to keep the company from liquidation.
Two unions, AVIA and SDL, mainly representing cabin crew, signed up to an agreement with investor group CAI on 29 September; the agreement is set to save Italy’s national airline Alitalia from bankruptcy. The ITF-affiliated union Federazione Italiana Lavoratori Trasporti-CGIL, also representing Alitalia workers, agreed to the deal last week after it won two new protocols, which resolved the union’s earlier concerns.
The protocols include a commitment by the company to consider 1000 temporary Alitalia workers for seasonal jobs and other positions during the first three months of operations and a pledge not to cut the salaries of pilots and cabin crew by more than between six and seven per cent – it was orginally mooted that wages would be reduced by 40 per cent. The union also won other concessions such as on sick leave entitlements, cabin crew staffing and pay for ground staff working night shifts.
The framework agreement includes a demand for an international partner to be involved in the firm; Air France has expressed an interest in taking up a minority share – the company’s takeover bid fell through earlier this year following a veto by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Meanwhile, Lufthansa’s Chief Executive, Wolfgang Mayrhuber, is also in talks with the unions, management and government over a minority shareholding.
The ITF-affiliated unions, Federazione Italiana Trasporti-CISL and Uiltrasporti, along with the general labour union, Unione Generale del Lavoro, had already signed up to the agreement earlier in the month.
The new airline is likely to be flying from 1 November; meanwhile technical operations are to be ironed out during October.
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