They do not receive money from the EU, this practice was stopped many years ago.
Actually, much to the EU's distaste, the Italian government provided a "final" support package to Alitalia just a couple of years' ago or so - a package that was permitted by the EU as the result of extensive work undertaken by my former firm.
Unfortunately anyone who thinks that Alitalia will be supported again, or indeed will last in its present form for much longer, is indeed living in cloud cuckoo land.
Whether Alitalia pilots work harder than at other airlines, I don't know, but that is largely irrelevant. There are simply too many staff, uncompetitive sub-contractors, and out-dated route structures for the company to survive as it is at the moment.
While painful, the best future for the Alitalia brand, is a massive reduction in the involvement of the state, such that the company can be restructured in some way to resemble a commercial enterprise - for example reducing operations at Rome and removing unprofitable routes and fleets.
Without this, ever fewer jobs will be saved by the day.