Employees at Italy's Alitalia went on strike Thursday, forcing the airline to cancel scores of flights, although the company and unions disagreed on exactly how many.
The walkout, called by CGIL, one of Italy's three main labor confederations, was called over concerns about contract renewals and to protest the management of the struggling airliner.
Alitalia said 151 flights had been canceled by evening and 179 would be scrapped by the end of the one-day strike, a figure the company had announced ahead of the walkout.
CGIL disputed those numbers, saying that by noon (1000GMT) Alitalia had already canceled 20 flights besides those scrapped ahead of the strike due to strong employee participation in the protest.
Transport disruptions in Italy are set to continue throughout the month. Local bus workers will stage a one-day walkout on Sept. 15; a four-hour air strike is scheduled for Sept. 18 and an eight-hour train strike will take place Sept. 27.
Copyright: The Associated Press WorldStream -- 9/08/06
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