Italian Flight Attendants Protest by Taking Their Uniforms Off

Caribbean News…
23 October 2021 7:47pm
flight attendants

Photos: CNN

(CNN) - Italy's new national airline, ITA Airways, took to the skies last week, but all is not well on the ground of Italian aviation.

Former Alitalia flight attendants protested this week against job losses and pay cuts in a particularly Italian way -- by taking their clothes off.

At the Campidoglio -- the center of power in Rome for around 2,000 years and whose main square was redesigned by Michelangelo -- about 50 female former flight attendants turned up in their Alitalia uniforms, then removed them to stand in their underwear, chanting "We are Alitalia."

This was a demonstration to protest not only against their job losses, but also against the contracts awarded to those who have been retained by ITA Airways.

One ITA Airways flight attendant told CNN that as well as taking a pay cut, they have lost seniority, and are no longer told far in advance where and when they will be working.

Of Alitalia's 10,500 staff, only 2,800 have been employed by ITA. The new airline has retained 52 of Alitalia's 110 planes, according to Reuters. However, it has announced plans for an entirely new fleet of Airbuses, as well as a chic new livery and Italian-made products from the crew uniforms to the lounge furniture.

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