Flight attendants in Italy strip to protest job losses

Some former flight attendants of Italy’s erstwhile national carrier, Alitalia, have protested against job losses and reduced pay. The protest saw some 50 female flight attendants taking off their uniforms at the Campidoglio in the centre of Rome.

'We are Alitalia'

While stripping off their uniforms and smearing makeup on their faces, the women chanted,’we are Alitalia’.

Italy’s national carrier, Alitalia's has been taken over by ITA which retained only 2,800 of the 10,500 staff of the airline. The demonstration was to protest job losses as well as pay cuts for those who were retained by the new management.

According to CNN, one such flight attendant said, coupled with the pay cuts, many of them lost their seniority. The workers also complain that, unlike before, they are no longer given ample notice of when and where they will be working.

Looking in the Rearview Mirror

When the staff first hinted of the protests and strike to register their displeasure, ITA President Alfredo Altavilla described the threats as

a thing of national shame.

According to him, airline staff agreed to the new working conditions. He is reported to have compared the workers’ complaints to a driver looking in the rearview mirror.

Altavilla told II Fatto Quotidiano earlier this month:

Bargaining over contracts is more than finished. They are all on board, and they have signed the contract that we sent them.

The new changes being implemented by ITA Airways are set to be rolled out over the next few months.

The new airline is undergoing major rebranding and is expected to eventually replace the entire Alitalia fleet of aircraft, of which it is retaining 52 of its 110 planes.