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Flights Cancelled Ahead of Strike By Ground Handlers in Italy [May 30]

Flights Cancelled Ahead of Strike By Ground Handlers in Italy [May 30]

Old May 29, 2014, 9:05 am
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Flights Cancelled Ahead of Strike By Ground Handlers in Italy [May 30]

Airport ground staff have scheduled a 24-hour strike for tomorrow/Friday. Milan and Venice airports are expected to be affected.

Alitalia and Meridiana works are also planning to strike at various times tomorrow.

Buses and trains may also be affected by the strike.

EasyJet has already cancelled some flights.

http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articl...+in+italy.html

Ryainair is monitoring the situation: http://ryanair.com/ie/notices/140529...-strike-italy/

Vueling is changing departure times of 2 flights: http://vuelingnews.com/2014/05/29/un...-2014/?lang=en
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Old May 29, 2014, 12:57 pm
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experienced one of those at MXP a few years ago. i think those are the people who drive the skywalks and the busses between the terminal gate and the plane. the strike was called about an hour before the plane landed.

if that is the group, you can't get there from here.

Last edited by slawecki; May 31, 2014 at 7:25 am
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Old May 30, 2014, 6:55 am
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Any advice grateful regarding Strikes in Venice

My parents have been flown home this morning due to this... They were supposed to fly home tonight, so very disappointed to have lost a day of there trip. They had a whole day planned and are gutted as you can imagine.

They were told at 10:30PM last night that they had to leave at 6am the following day so had to start packing immediately...

Does anyone know if they could get any compensation for this... It's so unfair... If they had wanted a 4 day break they wouldn't have spent a small fortune on another night in the hotel!

Thank you!
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Old May 30, 2014, 7:12 am
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have them sue the union that called the strike. hey man, s*** happens. your parents were lucky to get a plane.

could they not have stayed an extra day, and left after the strike?
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Old May 30, 2014, 8:44 am
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Yes it certainly does!

It was too late to arrange... Got a call late and was told they were going very early the next day... No time really to look into!
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Old May 30, 2014, 3:05 pm
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Originally Posted by Mumkey
Does anyone know if they could get any compensation for this... It's so unfair...
From who? For what?

The union isn't going to compensate them, nor is the Italian govt.

Presumably they asked the hotel to not be charged for the final night and that request was turned down.

Did they have travel insurance? Some insurance will cover strike-related travel changes. You might also check w/the credit card company used to book the hotel.
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Old May 30, 2014, 3:16 pm
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Originally Posted by Mumkey
My parents have been flown home this morning due to this... They were supposed to fly home tonight, so very disappointed to have lost a day of there trip. They had a whole day planned and are gutted as you can imagine.

They were told at 10:30PM last night that they had to leave at 6am the following day so had to start packing immediately...

Does anyone know if they could get any compensation for this... It's so unfair... If they had wanted a 4 day break they wouldn't have spent a small fortune on another night in the hotel!

Thank you!
Strikes are considered "Force Majeure" - acts over which they have no control, like weather events, etc. Compensation for a strike the airline has no control over is unlikely. Italy and sudden strikes go together like caf and latte. (Was affected by one perhaps ten days ago at Herculaneum - sudden mini-strike called by the employees. (I'm sure the Camorra had nothing to do with it.)

The best way to prepare for those issues is travel / trip interruption and cancellation insurance (or self-insuring), and other options include requesting a distressed travelers rate from a hotel if staying longer. Or, accept the airline's assistance and leave early, in this instance.

Last edited by JDiver; May 30, 2014 at 3:25 pm
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Old May 30, 2014, 4:08 pm
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Compensation? Seriously? From whom?
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Old May 30, 2014, 4:57 pm
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The unemployment rate is 12.7% and the youth unemployment rate is 42.7%. Yeah, let's go strike.
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Old May 30, 2014, 6:52 pm
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Originally Posted by bdemaria
Presumably they asked the hotel to not be charged for the final night and that request was turned down.
It sounds to like they didn't even have an unused night. If I read it correctly, they were planning on flying out at night on their last day of the trip and instead had to fly out early in the morning. So they feel like their last hotel night was wasted, since they'd booked it in order to have that last day of the trip, but the hotel doesn't owe them anything.
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Old May 31, 2014, 7:03 am
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Originally Posted by dieuwer2
The unemployment rate is 12.7% and the youth unemployment rate is 42.7%. Yeah, let's go strike.
are you saying that if unemployment exceeds, say 10%, employees loose all rights?
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Old May 31, 2014, 9:37 pm
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Originally Posted by slawecki
are you saying that if unemployment exceeds, say 10%, employees loose all rights?
Not at all. They can strike as long as they want I suppose.
What I am implying is that they don't really have any leverage. By going on strike during a recession/depression you make things worse which in fact may lead to bankruptcy of the business and total loss of jobs.
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Old Jun 1, 2014, 6:47 am
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Originally Posted by dieuwer2
Not at all. They can strike as long as they want I suppose.
What I am implying is that they don't really have any leverage. By going on strike during a recession/depression you make things worse which in fact may lead to bankruptcy of the business and total loss of jobs.
the airports are not going to go "broke" because the drivers are on strike. the usual cause of bankruptcy is total incompetence on the part of management.

there has been pretty much a global recession since 2008. no raises for 6 years?
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