Alitalia union announces one-minute strike

Alitalia personnel will stage an unprecedented symbolic one-minute strike at midday on September 6, flight attendants' union SDL said Wednesday.
The union said it had called the strike amid ''serious concerns'' over workers' futures at the ailing national carrier and warned that it may decide on further industrial action.
It called for immediate clarification of a restructuring plan being drawn up by government-appointed advisor Intesa SanPaolo bank which is expected to be unveiled shortly.
''Workers have the right to know if the proposed solution will mean Alitalia will be in a position to manage a significant market quota and to overcome a stagnation that has resulted from failed industrial plans and calamitous operational decisions,'' the union said.
It described possible lay-offs of between 4,000 and 8,000 staff under the plan as a ''grotesque lottery''.
''If exhaustive and convincing replies are not forthcoming we will not hesitate to make our voice heard,'' the union added.
''It will take a lot less than a minute to block all air transport''.
Alitalia was put up for sale last year by the previous centre-left government but an offer by Air France-KLM failed in April following opposition from unions and the incoming Silvio Berlusconi administration.
According to inside sources, the new Intesa SanPolo restructuring plan calls for the merger of domestic carrier Air One with Alitalia.
The company would be split in two parts: one that would merge the profit-making side of Alitalia with Air One which would handle 65% of the domestic market and another, a so-called 'bad company', which would assume Alitalia's debts and would be liquidated soon after.
This would save new investors from picking up Alitalia's debts, said to be around 1.5 billion euros, and would allow the company to look for a strong international partner.
Berlusconi told party Senators at a dinner earlier this month that the advisor's plan would involve 5,000 lay-offs but said this was the ''lesser evil'' compared to the loss of all 20,000 jobs if the airline went bust.
The premier reiterated his ideas on the layoffs in a radio interview last week, saying that in fact a deal with Air France would have led to 7,000 job cuts.
''We believe we can manage fewer layoffs than that,'' he said.
Air France-KLM had said they would need to cut 2,100 workers under the failed takeover deal.
Air France-KLM said last week it was not involved in negotiations for Alitalia with the Berlusconi government.
German carrier Lufthansa, which the Italian media is touting as a possible partner, declined to comment on the reports but has said Alitalia is an ''interesting target''.