The Italian government intervenes directly on the Ita Airways dossier, claiming, this time through legislation, that the new company is different from the old one, that is, Alitalia. A move that not only reiterates, within national borders, what has been expressed several times by the European Commission, but perhaps serves to put an end to the many labor disputes initiated by former Alitalia employees to protect the agreement signed with Lufthansa.
The decision
It is read in summary note from the Council of Ministers: «Taking into account that a jurisprudential conflict has arisen regarding whether or not there is a corporate discontinuity between Alitalia-Italian airline company and Ita-Italy air transport, and considering that this uncertainty is likely to cause negative consequences both on legal relationships and public finances, it was deemed necessary to approve an interpretative rule which, in line with the decisions of the European Commission, excludes the possibility of continuity between the two companies in the transition from Alitalia to Ita”.
The rule
What does the new rule say? From the drafts that Corriere obtained, Ita Airways or Alitalia are not explicitly mentioned. And we read, in the article relating to the “Provisions of authentic interpretation regarding the transfer of business complexes by companies admitted to the extraordinary administration procedure” that “in coherence with article 5 paragraph 1 of Directive 2001/23 /EC of the Council of 12 March 2001, thearticle 56, paragraph 3-bis, of the legislative decree 8 July 1999, n. 270 is interpreted in the sense that in any case operations carried out with a view to the liquidation of the transferor’s assets which do not constitute a transfer of the company, branch or parts of the company for the purposes provided for by article 2112 of the Civil Code, the transfers placed in be in execution of the program referred to in article 27 paragraph 2 letters a) and b-bis) of the same legislative decree, if they are carried out on the basis of decisions of the European Commission which exclude economic continuity between transferor and transferee”.
The sale of the business unit
Translated: if Brussels has decided that there is no economic continuity – therefore transfer of a business branch – between Ita and Alitalia then the provisions of thearticle 2112 of the Civil Code which establishes, “in the event of company transfer”, the continuation of the “employment relationship with the transferee and the worker retains all the rights deriving from it”. The transferor and the transferee are jointly and severally liable for all the credits that the worker had at the time of the transfer”.
The cause
The government’s decision therefore serves to make it clear that in the sale – for one euro – of the “Aviation” branch of Alitalia to Ita Airways in October 2021 there was no transfer of the business branch, thus also dismantling the arguments of various labor lawsuits won by former employees of the old national airline precisely on the basis of that case. Last June from Brussels they reiterated that Ita and Alitalia are two completely separate companies, inviting the “local authorities” – including judges – to behave accordingly.
The agreement
Labor disputes are one of the most delicate elements of the agreement between the Ministry of Economy (Ita’s shareholder) and Lufthansa: the Germans intend to invest in the Italian carrier initially by taking over 41% of Ita (through a capital increase of 325 million of Euro). As the executive president of Ita Airways Antonino Turicchi explained in an interview with Corriere, the agreement with Lufthansa provides that “if labor disputes call into question the discontinuity between Ita and Alitalia, the Germans will be able to exercise the right of withdrawal”. .
The numbers
Up to this point, Ita Airways has had 38 favorable rulings – for a total of 841 appellants – and three unfavorable rulings, in whole or in part (for a total of 244 people to be hired). There are still 34 cases pending for a total of 564 former Alitalia employees. According to some estimates, the overall impact of the lawsuits — if they had all been lost — would have been around 150 million euros, which would have further reduced Ita’s valuation at the time of Lufthansa’s official entry.
2023-09-25 22:18:45
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