Rome rubbish workers' unions threaten strike at end of February.

Trade unions representing employees of AMA, Rome's waste collection company, have threatened a strike at the end of February if Rome mayor Virginia Raggi does not provide assurances regarding the future of the municipal company.

Raggi has convened an emergency meeting with AMA trade union leaders on the morning of 11 Feburary, according to Italian news agency ANSA, as a result of the fallout from the recent  resignation of Pinuccia Montanari from her post as Rome's environment councillor with responsibility for refuse.

Montanari quit after she was the only member of the city council to support the 2017 balance sheet presented by AMA. The rest of the council, including Raggi and city budget councillor Gianni Lemmetti, rejected AMA's figures.

This led to the immediate departure of Montanari, and left Lemmetti playing down the "completely unfounded alarmism" over AMA's future, saying that the company "will remain public and moves towards a real recovery."

The secretary of the Rome and Lazio branch FP CGIL trade union, Natale Di Cola, told ANSA that the unions will be seeking assurances from Raggi on the "relaunching" of AMA.

However Di Cola warned that failure to guarantee the employment security of AMA's 8,000 workers would lead to an "inevitable" strike at the end of February.

Photo Il Fatto Quotidiano