Alitalia launch 4 hour strike

Alitalia workers associated with the SDL union launched a four-hour strike at 0900 UTC on 19 January 2009, forcing the cancellation of 22 flights. The action comes less than a week after the airline's privatization and relaunch under the ownership of a group of Italian investors and Air France-KLM, which has a 25 percent stake. Workers are protesting new hiring policies that have been associated with the airline ownership changes; they have threatened to stage another 24-hour strike but have not specified a date.