Italy strike grounds flights, to hit trains

A strike by Italian airline staff grounded scores of flights yesterday and the nation's powerful unions vowed to defy government orders and extend the protest to the rail network.

Arguing for better contracts, flight attendants refused to board planes at Italy's largest airline Alitalia which scrapped 141 flights, most of them international.

The four-hour strike also involved ground crews operating at the nation's airports and caused delays and some cancellations of other airlines' flights, airport officials said.

"Whether it's Rome or it's Naples or it's Milan, there's been a high turnout in the strike," said Fabrizio Tomaselli, a leader a the SULT union, which led the 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (1130-1530 GMT) protest.

Rail workers across the country were expected to add to the travel chaos later yesterday with a 24-hour strike over safety. It will be the second national rail strike this year after a train crash last month killed 17 people.

Unions decided to go ahead with the strike despite a threat of punitive action from Transport Minister Pietro Lunardi, who ordered them to move it to today and reduce it to eight hours.

Mr Lunardi has faced criticism after the train crash and a winter highway snowstorm that trapped hundreds of motorists in southern Italy for several days.

"Italian rail workers will strike for 24 hours, starting this evening at 9 p.m. - giving up a entire day of pay to demand better security for themselves and everyone on board," said Paola Agnello Modica, a leader at the CGIL union.

"It's a justified strike, that will win support and won't be thwarted like Minister Lunardi wants," Ms Modica added.

The union demanded greater investment in the railways to prevent further accidents. Italy's railways company, Ferrovie dello Stato, says its investments in safety and technology have increased by two-thirds since 1999 to €2.5 billion last year.

Industrial unrest will be on Italy's agenda for the next several months as unions try to renegotiate contracts.

Labour leaders announced a general strike for all Italian public sector workers on March 18, and pilots are warning they might go ahead and strike unless they are quickly given proper resting room onboard long-haul flights.

On Wednesday, striking Italian television workers at state broadcaster RAI forced the postponement of the men's giant slalom at the Alpine skiing world championships in Bormio. They are pushing for better contracts.

The strike was a disheartening development for sports enthusiasts, who feared labour unrest could also disrupt next year's Winter Olympics, which the Italian city of Turin will host. A spokesman for the Turin organising committee said that RAI was not the host broadcaster for the Games, however.