Recasts so as to add minister’s assertion, unions’ feedback
ROME, April 14 (Reuters) – Employees from stricken airliner Alitalia blocked a fundamental highway in central Rome on Wednesday as their union representatives met the business minister to debate the way forward for the cash-strapped provider.
Police in riot gear shaped a line throughout the Through Veneto, the place lots of Rome’s prime inns are situated, to forestall the protesters from heading additional into the town.
“Alitalia=Italy” learn one banner.
Unions urged the federal government on Tuesday to desert negotiations with Brussels over a proposed enterprise overhaul for the airline, saying the European Fee was favouring overseas carriers over the group.
Rome has been in negotiation with the European Union’s govt arm for months over the plan to restructure the agency by means of the launch of a brand new, state-owned firm known as ITA.
ITA, which can obtain Three billion euros ($3.59 billion) from the state, was supposed to purchase belongings of Alitalia and rent a few of its 11,000 staff to cut back job cuts on the previous provider to the minimal.
Nevertheless divergences with Brussels over the situations underneath which Rome may inject cash into ITA have delayed the asset sale and left Altalia’s coffers nearly empty.
Final month Alitalia paid solely 50% of salaries and commerce unions mentioned the state of affairs would change into insufferable by the top of April ought to ITA’s launch be nonetheless blocked, or accredited with too many constraints.
Throughout Wednesday’s assembly, Business Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti reassured commerce unions that Alitalia would pay April salaries in any case, the pinnacle of Filt Cgil union Fabrizio Cuscito mentioned.
Giorgetti mentioned in a press release that the federal government was exploring different plans for Alitalia, however didn’t point out some other choice.S8N2LH00I
The EU has requested for ITA to drop the Alitalia model, quit as many as half of its slots at Milan metropolis airport, and begin with out the dealing with and upkeep divisions of the previous provider, sources had mentioned.
Commerce unions rejected these measures saying they might entail a big discount in each plane and employees numbers for the brand new, state-owned airline.
($1 = 0.8365 euros)
(Reporting by Crispian Balmer in Rome and Francesca Landini in Milan; modifying by Barbara Lewis, Kirsten Donovan)
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