Some new facts.
Talks to get all Alitalia's unions on board for a job-cutting rescue by Italian investors will continue tomorrow as pilots and crew have not signed up to an initial deal agreed by other unions to avoid bankruptcy.
Raffaele Bonanni, head of CISL (one of the four unions which signed up to the framework deal), said: "We have arrived at a point where something has to be accomplished, otherwise everything will break. If it happened, one of the richest markets in the world of aviation would be dispelled and, above all, we would lose 20,000 jobs." An other union, FILT-CGIL said the conditions were not in place for a full-blown agreement.
Five other labour groups, representing pilots and cabin crew, oppose the rescue plan altogether, fearing huge job and salary cuts.
The government called talks with those groups for Monday evening and Tuesday, hoping to break the deadlock.
Speaking on a television show tonight, Berlusconi stressed the alternative to the rescue proposal was bankruptcy. He said Lufthansa (!) would be the best international partner for a revived Alitalia.
Hundreds of angry employees gathered near Berlusconi's office intonating slogans like "Buffoons, we are coming". The son of one of the pilots carried a banner saying "A little money for my dad, a little bread for us".