Ita Airways: the agreement on salaries is skipped, the unions proclaim the strike for February 28

Skip the negotiation between Ita Airways and the unions   on salaries   and the workers ' representatives proclaim a four - hour strike for Tuesday 28 February .

In the past few hours, the parties, summoned by the Ministry of Labour, have not reached an agreement on the wage issue, with the unions accusing the airline of having "backtracked" at the last minute, with a "sudden and unexpected about-face ".

"The company has inexplicably shown unacceptable rigidity, refusing to sign an agreement built together over the long months of negotiations", said the general secretary Claudio Tarlazzi and the national secretary Ivan Viglietti of Uiltrasporti. Furthermore, the national secretary of Filt CGIL Fabrizio Cuscito accused the top management of Ita of not having signed a de facto agreement already "concluded and negotiated" : "It makes us aware that someone, not only does not have the workers' interests at heart, but he lacks respect for him and, on the contrary, has an interest in Lufthansa's entry operation and the very survival of the company being jeopardized".

Of a different opinion Ita, who explained to the trade unions that he was not in a position to sign an agreement "which has only matured in the last few hours". Everything is postponed to a new appointment, still to be fixed, after the extraordinary Board meeting convened by the company.

Following the abrupt interruption of the negotiations, Filt Cgil, Fit-Cisl, Uiltrasporti, Ugl-Ta and the professional associations Anpac, Anpav and Anp have therefore announced the state of agitation. This is the first strike for the company born following the cessation of Alitalia's activities.

A tense situation that adds to the already delicate negotiations underway between the Treasury Ministry and Lufthansa for the sale of a minority stake in Ita to the German company. This would be 20-40% of the newco, which the Cologne group could acquire with an outlay of between 250 and 300 million euros. Lufthansa's operational entry is expected for the summer, with a relaunch of Rome Fiumicino airport, which should become a hub for Latin America and Africa.

(Unioneonline/F)