Alitalia unions to scale back strikes

Italian union bosses yesterday agreed to scale back strikes grounding about a quarter of Alitalia's flights, after the government stepped into negotiations at the state-controlled airline.

Union bosses said yesterday's favourable talks with the government would allow them to ask workers to ease wildcat strikes that forced Alitalia to cancel up to 220 flights yesterday - the seventh straight day of labour unrest.

That represents about a quarter of its average of 800 daily flights.

But Industry Minister Claudio Scajola went further, saying workers would halt strikes altogether, unblocking safety inspections that had taken some aircraft out of circulation.

"It (the meeting) seemed positive to me and it's even true that the unions' response was favourable - they have suspended all forms of industrial action," Mr Scajola said.

In return, the Italian state - Alitalia's largest shareholder - would host talks with management and unions on February 1.

"The government's role is to bring closer together the company and unions, which perhaps don't have such distant positions," Agriculture Minister Gianni Alemanno said.

Unions are opposed to splitting off ground operations, a process they say is moving faster than Chief Executive Giancarlo Cimoli had promised. Alitalia has deconsolidated ground services, passing it off to state holding company Fintecna - a move applauded by analysts.

It is part of a broader restructuring that also includes job and cost cuts and sees Alitalia turning the corner on years of losses with a slight profit in 2006.