Black smoke in the negotiations between Ita Airways, a new company born from the ashes of Alitalia, and the unions: no agreement on salaries. Company employees go on strike for four hours. The date is February 28.
The meeting at the Ministry of Labor concluded on Friday afternoon with a “report of no agreement” between the parties. Unions accuse Newco of “taking a step back and taking a sudden and unexpected turn”. The company assembles an extraordinary board of directors.
What do Ita workers want?
There are raises on the table. From April 2023, Ita’s salaries must comply with the national employment contract for the category. Unions’ demands include increasing the “fixed salary components” (basic salary and minimum guaranteed flight allowance) by 35%. In fact, we want the discount applied to all traveling staff hired after 15 October 2021 (first departure date of the new Italian company) to be cancelled. While a daily allowance increase is requested for both domestic and international flights, the daily salaries of instructors in charge of training Ita personnel are also asked to increase. Acronyms also ask for raises for ground staff
First Ita staff strike on February 28, 2023
“The meeting this afternoon ended with a negative outcome, with the company inexplicably showing unacceptable rigidity by refusing to sign an agreement that was built together over long months of negotiations,” said Claudio Tarlazzi, secretary general, and Ivan Uiltrasporti, the national secretary. “The agreement that was already signed and negotiated was blown up by the company,” rumbled Fabrizio Cuscito, filt CGIL’s national secretary. “This makes us realize that someone not only has heartfelt consideration of the interests of the workers, but also does not respect them, and, on the contrary, that Lufthansa has an interest in the entry operation and the survival of the company is jeopardized,” Cuscito accused, calling for “immediate intervention by the government”. “This is a serious and unacceptable reality” for the unions and that is why Filt Cgil, Fit-Cisl, Uiltrasporti, Ugl-Ta and their trade unions Anpac, Anpav and Anp are “declaring a four-hour strike” for the next 28 February.
Ita explained to the unions that he was “not in a position to sign the agreement that has matured in the last few hours”. And the company convened “an extraordinary board of directors early next week” to “continue signing the contract”. “This is why we’re asking for a new call after the date the board is appointed,” the company said.
Negotiation with Lufthansa
The friction with the unions arose as negotiations were underway between the Treasury and Lufthansa for the sale of a minority stake in Ita. The first step in purchasing the shares was the signing of a memorandum between the Treasury and Lufthansa. Ita Airways’ share for sale is “between 20 and 40%” and the trend is to see the German group present at 40%. The cost for the purchase will be “between 250 and 300 million euros”.
Economy and Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti stated that the time required to reach the pre-sale is “two months”. Therefore, the operational entry of Lufthansa into Italy is expected to take place in the summer.
Source: Today IT
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
