Italy

Die-hard unions come on board Alitalia's buyout bid

Die-hard unions come on board Alitalia's buyout bid Rome - The last two unions- both representing Alitalia flight attendants - on Monday finally joined other representatives of the financially troubled airline's workers in agreeing to a private consortium's takeover offer.

The decision by the SDL and AVIA unions to adhere to the CAI consortium's buyout plan ended more than two weeks of tortious talks.

Their failure would have seen the demise of Alitalia and would have represented a serious embarrassment to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's conservative government.

Spirit of Mussolini being revived in Italy

Spirit of Mussolini being revived in ItalyRome, Sept. 27 : Active efforts are on to revive and rehabilitate Benito Mussolini, Italy’s wartime dictator.

On Friday, urban planners and architectural historians from across Italy gathered in Rome to honour the “glories” of Fascist architecture.

The conference, at Latina, a model “new town” created in reclaimed marshland south of Rome by Mussolini in 1932, is the brainchild of Giorgio Frasinetti, the head of urban planning at Predappio, the town in Emilia-Romagna where Il Duce was born and is buried, reports The Times.

Alitalia pilots approve takeover plan

Alitalia pilots approve takeover planRome - Pilots at Alitalia SpA gave their green light to a rescue plan for the Italian airline after nearly 15 hours of nonstop negotiations, Italy's ANSA news agency reported Saturday.

The pilots agreed to a takeover by a consortium of private investors after negotiating a reduction in sackings and manager contracts for captains.

The agreement meant only Alitalia's flight attendants union had yet to approve the deal designed to keep Italy's flagship carrier from collapse. Talks were scheduled with that union Monday.

Lufthansa CEO in Italy for Alitalia talks

Lufthansa CEO in Italy for Alitalia talks Frankfurt - Amid a struggle in Rome to avert the collapse of Italian airline Alitalia, Lufthansa has resumed talks with Italy's government, the German airline said Friday.

Lufthansa chief executive Wolfgang Mayrhuber had travelled to Italy at the government's invitation and would also meet trade union leaders, a spokeswoman for Lufthansa said in Frankfurt.

She said she could not disclose what was discussed or who else Mayrhuber would meet.

Autoline arm picks 49% stake in two Italian firms for € 9 million

Auto component maker Autoline Industries has informed that its Cyprus unit, Koderat has acquired 49% stake in two Italian firms named, SZ Design Srl and Zagato S.r.l for 9 million Euro.

Italian government in "hopeful" Alitalia talks with labour unions

Rome - Italian government officials were set later Thursday to hold talks with labour unions on the fate of troubled national carrier Alitalia, amid what news reports said was optimism on an agreement over the carrier's takeover by a private consortium.

The late-morning meeting including the nine unions representing Alitalia employees was scheduled to be held at Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's office in Rome.

The premier's close aide Gianni Letta was expected to chair it.

"I am hopeful, but to say that everything has been concluded is not correct," Transport Minister Altero Matteoli said ahead of the talks.

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