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Italian Airline Alitalia Hit By 48-Hour Strike

Posted on: Wednesday, 7 September 2005, 09:00 CDT

Italian airline Alitalia hit by 48-hour strike

ROME, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- A number of flight attendants working for the Italian national flag-carrier Alitalia began a two-day strike on Tuesday which risked causing chaos for passengers.

The strike was called by Sult, the largest trade union representing airline personnel, as part of an on-going feud with Alitalia management.

Sult decided on the stoppage after Alitalia said it would no longer include the union in company talks because it had refused to accept new labor contracts as part of the airline's restructuring plan.

Smaller unions and those representing pilots accepted the new contracts which involve up to 2,500 layoffs including some 900 cabin staff, longer hours, lower pay and fewer perks.

Sult union representatives said more than 20 flights had been canceled on Tuesday while almost a dozen more suffered serious delays.

Alitalia insisted that the stoppage was causing minimum disruption and that the flights referred to by Sult had been canceled for "technical reasons".

Alitalia, which is 62 percent state-owned, is hoping to break even in 2006 on the back of a rescue plan involving curtailing redundancies and other cost-cutting measures. The airline is also planning a 1.2-billion-euro new share issue.

The European Commission approved the restructuring plan in July.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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