Fincantieri ship workers strike over microchips in boots

(ANSA) - Genoa, March 25 - Workers at Italian state-owned shipyard Fincantieri went on strike Tuesday over a supplementary contract that unions said would include microchips in worker boots.
    Fincantieri clarified that it wanted to integrate audiovisual technologies to increase the safety of the workers, not to monitor them from a distance. Unrest was particularly acute at Fincantieri in Liguria, a coastal region in northwestern Italy. Strikes have plagued the Riva Trigoso shipyard in Genoa and Muggiano shipyard in La Spezia. A surprise one-hour strike Tuesday in La Spezia was also protesting a decision to sell a dry dock used by the shipyard for fear of job losses. The decision to cede the dry dock was made by a consortium guided by the provincial government. Two hours of strikes protesting the supplemental contract are also planned for today in the Sestri Ponente shipyard near Genoa; and another is planned for March 31.
    Strikes on rotation are also being held today at the Marghera shipyard near Venice.
    Worker agitation comes as a crucial deadline looms next week to deliver a ship - the Viking Star. "They want to make (workers) work for free for a half hour everyday and they want to put a microchip in the work boots.
    They are also asking us to give a gift of 104 hours of work for ex-holidays," the unions said.