Italy urges Alitalia to stick with national contract as strike looms

Rome (dpa) - Italy‘s government on Tuesday urged loss-making Alitalia airline not to void an existing collective bargaining contract as unions confirmed a February 23 strike.Air transport unions representing pilots, air and ground crews said their members will walk off the job for four hours beginning at 2 pm (1300 GMT) on Thursday to "safeguard workers‘ rights.""CEO Cramer Ball got the message that the government strongly asks Alitalia to go back to the table concerning the contract," Deputy Industry Minister Teresa Bellanova told ANSA news agency.Ball told the Alitalia board on February 16 the company plans to cut costs by some 160 million euros (169 million dollars) this year.Voiding the existing contract could mean a unilateral cut to wages, CGIL union spokesman Guido Barcucci told dpa.Alitalia is expected to lose 500 million euros (530 million dollars) this year after posting losses of 450 million euros in 2016 and has between 1,640 and 4,000 layoffs in the works, according to Sole 24 Ore Italian business paper. An Alitalia spokeswoman told dpa the company employs approximately 12,500 people.Alitalia, which flies to 26 Italian and 54 foreign destinations, canceled 60 per cent of its domestic and international flights scheduled for Thursday due to the strike.United Arab Emirates carrier Etihad owns 49 per cent of Alitalia, with Italian shareholders led by UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo banks owning the rest.