Italy Faces Travel Chaos as Airport Workers Stage Strike

Date: 14 July 2023 - 21:53

News ID: ۱۱۷۱۸۶

ROME (Dispatches) — Air travellers in Italy face major disruption on Saturday due to a nationwide strike by airport ground staff, with baggage handling and check-in services scheduled to stop from 10.00 to 18.00.
The eight-hour strike action has been called by airport workers in protest over a failure to renew their contract which expired six years ago.
Pilots with Malta Air, which operates Ryanair flights, will be striking on Saturday from midday until 16.00, with Vueling pilots and flight attendants also set to strike from 10.00 to 18.00.
ITA Airways says it has been “forced to cancel 133 domestic and international flights” due to the strike, with a list of the cancelled flights available on its website.
However the Italian airline stresses that it has limited the disruption by rebooking as many passengers as possible on the first available flights, meaning that “40 per cent will be able to fly on the same day”.
Commuters and tourists alike were also stranded by a major train strike across Italy on a sweltering Thursday, with cancellations affecting even high-speed lines that are usually guaranteed during Italy’s frequent work stoppages.
Transport Minister Matteo Salvini signed a decree ordering the two-day strike be cut in half, but even that truncated stoppage forced the cancellation of service up and down the peninsula on a weekday, at the height of Italy’s booming high tourist season.
At Milan’s main rail station, for example, eight of 20 scheduled Trenitalia trains scheduled between 10:30-11:30 a.m. were canceled.
Italy’s main unions called for the strike of Trenitalia and Italo workers, complaining about staffing shortages and excessive overtime, minimum salaries and other work conditions.
Also, Workers at Britain’s No.2 airport Gatwick will strike for eight days at the end of July and in early August, potentially causing cancellations and travel misery for thousands of passengers at the busiest time of year for summer holidays.
European travellers are already on high alert over worries about air traffic control problems arising from both the reduced air space available due to the Ukraine war, plus staffing issues and industrial action at some locations.
The Unite trade union said around 950 Gatwick workers, including ground staff, baggage handlers and check-in agents, would walk out in a pay dispute for four days from July 28-Aug. 1 and then another four days from Aug. 4-8.