Tue, Jan 20, 2004
Travelers, Airports Hit Hard
Monday was a bad day to
fly in or out of Italy, as the country's national airline --
Alitalia -- cancelled 364 flights in response to a
devastating worker strike. The airline expected about 18,000
passengers to face travel disruptions as a result of the one-day
walk-out protesting job losses.
The debate stems from Alitalia's management proposal to cut
2,700 jobs to help reduce the state-run airline's financial woes.
Company officials also claim the move will help prepare for its
transformation to a private operation.
Obviously, the unions don't agree with this cost-cutting plan.
"We want the plan withdrawn and discussions to start again from
scratch," said Stefano Pietrini, a spokesman for Fit-CISL trade
union.
As a result of the
disagreements and subsequent one-day strike, which called an 8-hour
stoppage between 0900 and 1700 GMT on Monday, check-in counters at
Rome's Fiumicino airport -- among many others -- were deserted on
Monday as the strike's effect began to take a toll. Facilities
outside of the Roman airport were also affected, as union plans
included a lunchtime protest outside the Finance Ministry in
Rome.
The strike is the third major transport stoppage to hit Italy
this year. you may recall, Italian air traffic controllers held a
one-day strike on January 8 to protest pay and working conditions
which led to 334 Alitalia flights being cancelled, and causing
20,000 stranded passengers to sit around for hours on end. A
nationwide strike on January 9 also caused chaos on Italian bus,
train and metro transportation services.
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