Trade unions representing Alitalia's 22,000 workers yesterday demanded that management supply details of a recovery plan intended to save the Italian airline from bankruptcy - a fate that both sides say might be only weeks away.
"The situation is very serious, and we don't have much time," according to Mr Luigi Angeletti, leader of UIL, Italy's third-largest union.
No details were immediately available, but Mr Giancarlo Cimoli, chief executive, last week gave an uncompromising assessment of Alitalia's difficulties, saying the carrier's share of the domestic Italian market had fallen to 45 per cent in the first five months of this year, down from 65 per cent in 2001 and 49 per cent at the end of 2003.
The crucial questions to which the unions are seeking answers concern the number of job cuts that Mr Cimoli has in mind and the airline's future structure.
The unions anticipate that he will try to reduce the workforce by about 6,000.
Alitalia's management has held several rounds of talks with the unions this month, and Mr Cimoli has tried to keep the focus on new work contracts that he says are essential to boosting low productivity and keeping the airline in business.
By cutting labour costs, renegotiating purchasing contracts and upgrading pricing and ticketing policies, Mr Cimoli hopes to make €770 million in savings between 2005 and 2008. - (Financial Times Service)
