I can not recall how many times I had to listen at the phone phrases like: "I'm sorry, but despite the fact you have the right rating and you speak the local language we can't hire you because our union dosn't want foreign pilots".... That happend when I applied in "civilized" countries like Italy, Portugal, Spain, ...
I did not call you a liar. The above sounds like there is NO WAY you can get a job in Italy if you cannot speak the language to a native level or you are a foreign. This is simply not the case because with most operators there is hardly a union to refer to (unless you are flying or want to fly for Alitalia and its likes, as you unfortunately witnessed) or because they are happy to hire expats either using contractors or directly provided they have the right experience. The way you put meant you got rejected every other day by unions. Hope it is clearer now.
Having said that I have no problems admitting that this industry in the Belpaese is a royal
