National carrier Alitalia's
management has asked for meetings on Tuesday with its unions to
discuss ways to lower labour costs, a condition for a investment
by Etihad airline, sources said Thursday.
However, Susanna Camusso, chair of the CGIL trade union
federation, said no layoff plans are in the works for Alitalia
employees.
"As is well-known, there is an agreement in force on
employment with the use of solidarity contracts and cassa
integrazione (temporary state-subsidised lay-offs) by rotation,"
she said after talks this week with Gabriele Del Torchio,
Alitalia's chief executive officer.
Previous rounds of talks on the Italian carrier's plans
were suspended in February when the unions asked for guarantees
of Etihad's investment before accepting new sacrifices by
workers.
In mid-February, an agreement was reached for 1,900
temporary lay-offs designed to save as much as 80 million euros.
A further 48 million euros of savings are being sought to
meet the target of 128 million euros on labour costs to be saved
overall under Del Torchio's industrial plan for the airline.
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad is considering an investment of up
to 500 million euros in the cash-starved Alitalia.
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