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Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Monday, 15 September 2008 |
Alitalia pilots demonstrate in downtown Rome, Monday, Sept. 15, 2008. Alitalia's four largest unions will meet with government officials for a second night Monday to hammer out a deal to save the bankrupt Alitalia from liquidation. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Riccardo De Luca
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ROME - Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi warned Monday that Alitalia would face certain liquidation if a deal is not reached quickly on terms to reorganize the loss-making airline.
"I don't know if it would be a question of days, but I am sure it would be within weeks," Berlusconi said during the taping of a late-night talk show for Rai public television, adding that the unions would be to blame for the airline's failure.
Berlusconi's remarks, reported by the Italian news agencies Apcom and ANSA, came as Alitalia's four largest unions met with government mediators to hammer out details for new labour contracts. At the same time, leaders of five unions not included in the latest round of talks warned of spontaneous work stoppages in protest for being excluded.
Alitalia sought protection from its creditors two weeks ago in hopes of reorganizing under a plan backed by Italian investors, who are prepared to inject one billion euros (C$1.5 billion) in the loss-making airline and oversee its merger with Italy's second, much-smaller airline Air One, possibly in conjunction with a foreign partner, most likely Air France-KLM.
But Alitalia's unions, which blocked a deal with Air France-KLM deal last spring, have failed despite a week of talks to sign off on the reorganization plans, with layoffs and pay cuts the main stumbling blocks. The four biggest unions gave their backing to the industrial plan during overnight talks Sunday, but they have yet to sign off on new labour contracts, the subject of Monday's talks.
The five other unions, representing pilots, flight attendants and ground personnel, said any agreement without them was futile. About 200 workers, including pilots and flight attendants in uniform, gathered outside of Palazzo Chigi where the confederations were meeting with government officials in protest.
Officials of the pilots' union who met separately with government officials Monday evening said a roundtable of all nine unions and the Italian investors was set for Wednesday, Italian news agencies reported.
The industrial plan backed by the confederations envisages 3,200 layoffs and is a good starting point for further negotiations, Raffaele Bonanni, the leader of the CISL labour confederation that backed the plan, told the newspaper Corriere della Sera. It does not include new contracts, one of the sticking points of the negotiations, which was to be the subject of Monday evening's meeting.
Union representatives for pilots and flight attendants were meeting separately with government officials.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 15 September 2008 )
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