Unions agree Alitalia rescue plan

Italian unions last month agreed a rescue plan for the Italian airline carrier Alitalia, which avoids it going into receivership.

In the five-point plan, agreed by the government and the unions after four days of negotiations, the unions agreed to halt their industrial action in return for the removal of the existing top management and its replacement by a team led by the current head of Italy's railways, Giancarlo Cimoli.

According to Guglielmo Epifani, head of the largest union confederation, CGIL, Cimoli is someone who "realises the importance of relations with the unions".

Other elements of the plan involve developing a new industrial strategy for the company as well as attracting additional private capital. However, for the moment, at least, large-scale redundancies (an earlier intention had been to cut 2,700 jobs) are not part of the plan.

While the long-term future is uncertain, the immediate threat of receivership has been removed. Epifani said it is "a virtual miracle, thanks to the strength of the union".