Criticism of trade unions

On Monday, Italy's trade unions approved a rescue plan for Italian airline Alitalia, which is facing bankruptcy. It is to be sold to the CAI consortium. Until now the trade unions had resisted this course of action because it puts thousands of jobs on the line. The business weekly Capital criticises the unions for initially rejecting this plan. "It's obvious that cutting costs also involves axing jobs. This had to be discussed with the trade unions, who would not hear of such sacrifices. They wanted the investors' money alright, but only if it was to be spent as before and no jobs were lost. That proved impossible. The unions seemed to prefer bankruptcy to changing their style of working. For years Romania's trade unions reacted in the same way to the privatisation of companies. ... This type of trade union is typical of Europe and it is preventing Europe from becoming a global economic force, no matter how many Lisbon agendas [the EU is supposed to become the most competitive and dynamic economic area in the world by 2010] we ratify. The other side of the coin could be that the Old Continent probably has the most satisfied employees. ... The question is how much of this satisfaction can be preserved if the economy fails to keep up with the times."

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