Well, At Least They're Still Flying

In the labor dispute between Alitalia and its cabin crews, the flight attendants tried something a little different Friday. They stopped serving food and drinks to passengers on domestic and short-haul international flights.

No cocktails. No sodas. No bags of pretzels. Niente.

Call it a "snack strike." It ran from 1000 Zulu to 1400 Zulu and infuriated Alitalia's already beleaguered management.

 "This is an unusual way to get the attention of Alitalia which won't mean big problems for passengers," said one union member, quoted by Reuters. The "snack strike" struck even though Alitalia managers threatened legal action against the participants, given that the strike occurred during the Christmas travel season -- when such job actions are prohibited by contract.

Like a lot of airlines on both sides of the pond lately, Alitalia has seen its share of financial woes. As ANN reported last fall, Alitalia and its unions agreed on a contract that allowed the Italian government to cut down its ownership in the state airline from 62-percent to 49-percent. In the process, the company got a cash infusion of 1.2 billion euros at the cost of some 3,700 union jobs.

But what has union members witholding food and drink to short-haul passengers is the change in working conditions. They're a lot tougher now and union members are becoming a bit unhappy with the whole affair.

If Alitalia doesn't agree to address the cabin crews' concerns, union leaders say they can arrange a lot more nasty ways of showing their displeasure. They could, for instance, start taking etiquette lessons from the French...

FMI: www.alitalia.com