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Italian Airline Strikes May Hamper Travel

Posted on: Thursday, 26 January 2006, 06:00 CST

By Jeffrey Stinson

LONDON -- Union leaders said Wednesday that they would urge their members to temporarily end wildcat strikes against Italy's biggest airline, which is concerned strikers will disrupt travel to the Winter Olympics in Torino.

The pledge came after a meeting in Rome between government ministers and the unions, whose members are upset over plans by the national airline Alitalia to split off maintenance and airport services into a new company as part of an effort to make Alitalia profitable.

The talks were inconclusive, and the no-strike pledge appears good only until a meeting Wednesday, just nine days before the opening of the Games, between the government, unions and Alitalia.

Although a labor truce is in place during the Olympics, the wildcat strikes have called that into question.

After Wednesday's meeting, Alitalia said it remained very concerned about travel to and during the Olympics, which run Feb.10-26. The situation is outside the airline's hands, and it is doing all it can to keep flying and accommodate travelers.

The labor actions have forced Alitalia to cancel hundreds of flights the last seven days, and the strikes have embarrassed the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is up for re-election in April. Just as the world is focusing attention on Torino, the walkouts have revived the stereotype about Italy being a nation of job strikes.

Between 180 and 250 flights a day have been canceled since Jan.19. By day's end Wednesday, 175 flights were cancelled, as picketing maintenance workers blocked flight crews and other airline workers from getting to their jobs at several airports. Alitalia said it hoped to have no more than 170 cancellations today. The airline typically averages between 760 to 800 flights daily, with about 250 of them inside Italy.

"It's the perfect time for the workers to bring attention to their issues," said Kathy McCabe, editor and publisher of a subscription travel newsletter, Dream of Italy, in Washington. "It's the worst time for the government."

Berlusconi, who is in a tough re-election campaign, had wanted to showcase the Olympics.

"This is a huge black eye for Berlusconi," McCabe said, because the strikes are occurring at the same time there is a last-minute demand to travel to the Olympics. "It's playing into a stereotype. It's Italy ...is a striking nation. They'll call a strike, then call it off, then call it again and call it off."

The plan to shed Alitalia's maintenance and service operations was part of a deal with the European Union last year to win $1.48 billion in recapitalization. But it will cost the unions about 8,600 jobs at the airline, and they say it violates a 2004 deal with the airline to keep the operations.

The government took part in the December recapitalization of the airline. Its stake in Alitalia sank to 49.9%, with European and U.S. funds also used. But it remains the largest single shareholder.

In the past, Italian governments have stepped in, often in response to prolonged strikes, and bailed out the airline or switched management when there was trouble. This time, the government has said it would not.

Contributing: Tom Kington in Rome

(c) Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

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