Mef green light for salary increases in Ita Airways
Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti spoke in favor of salary increases for Ita Airways workers. Despite the delicate financial situation of the airline, the Treasury said it was in favor because “it is an adjustment already foreseen pre Covid and stopped due to the pandemic with the commitment to do so once the restrictions are released”. However something is not right since Ita has been operational since 15 October 2021, i.e. well beyond the start of the pandemic, with the first cases in December of 2019.
The matter lands on the Ita board table
In fact, technically the board of directors must concretely vote in favor of the salary increase requested by the unions. The same ones (Cgil, Cisl and Uil) who signed an agreement to reduce workers’ wages by 30-40% during the transition from former Alitalia to Italy. The point is, however, that the company led by Fabio Lazzerini closed last year with a loss of around 470 million. Giving the green light to wage increases means increasing the cost of labor in the balance sheet just as the company’s accounts are still suffering and the process of selling a share (40%) to the Germans of Lufthansa is about to be closed.
The whole under the control of the Court of Auditors which supervises the company which is currently entirely publicly owned. And with the sword of Damocles of a liability action against the administrators for tax damage by the accounting judiciary. Hence the possibility that the board splits right on the salary issue. Especially since the salary agreements, concluded in 2021, are technically valid until 2025.
Not to mention that Lufthansa has not said she is against the increases, but in exchange has asked for a discount on the purchase price of the stake. Finally, an increase in labor costs, which is lower than for other European carriers, would also end up affecting the company’s return-to-balance plans, which aims to keep 2023 losses below 300 million. In other words it is an industrially difficult choice to justify for a board of directors unless strictly politically motivated by the majority shareholder.
The situation is decidedly tense
In the event that the increases do not arrive, the unions are ready to give battle. After the failure of the cooling procedure at the ministry of labour, CGIL, CISL, UIL, Ugl, together with ANP, ANPAV and ANPAC have scheduled four-hour work stoppage for February 28 . This is the first strike in the history of Ita Airways. Cub programmed it instead national strike in the aviation, airport and allied sectors for 17 March. The goal is to shed light on the problems of the entire sector: from wage increases to layoffs, the request for the return of the shock absorbers by INPS to the unlawfully dismissed, the renewal of the CCNL for handling, layoffs, precariousness up to “to the abuse in the use of layoffs as an ATM by companies”as underlined by Antonio Amoroso, Cub national secretary of transport.
Meanwhile, the sales process continues slowly
Lufthansa is carefully analyzing Ita’s financial situation to arrive at a definitive offer for 40% of the company worth around 300 million. According to Il Sole24Ore, the government wants the German carrier to take operational control “as soon as possible” in order to benefit from possible synergies between the two companies. The goal is to close the game by the summer. At least for 40%. Then Lufthansa will have the opportunity to further increase Ita’s capital, but it will only do so when the company returns to profit. And that is within at least three years.
The intention is in the plans of the German carrier to reach full capacity over 900 million euros in revenues with 130 million profits. Numbers that will be possible thanks to the development of the Fiumicino airport which should become a reference point for long-haul flights to and from Africa and Latin America. However, the problem of the use of Malpensa remains in the background, as well as the high airport tariffs of Fiumicino and the strong public contribution to the low cost market. All relevant pieces of an overall transport plan that the unions would like to discuss with the government.