Italian employees from U.S. military bases in the country hold a demonstration as part of a two-day walk out near the south entrance to Aviano Air Base in June 2023. Another strike is looming on Nov. 4, 2024. (Brian Erickson/Stars and Stripes)
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy — Defense Department personnel here could have disruptions in on-base services Monday, as Italians employed by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service at local installations are calling a strike.
The demonstration is in response to a September announcement by AAFES that it is consolidating a furniture store and restaurant into the base exchange a few miles away, which will result in the loss of 44 jobs held by Italians, media outlet Rainews.it and an Aviano exchange worker said.
AAFES employees have the legal right to either show up on the job or walk out, according to the exchange worker, who requested anonymity to preserve a strategic element of the strike.
Employees won’t notify supervisors of their choice until Monday, leaving AAFES in the dark about which areas of its operations will be affected and to what extent, the exchange worker said.
Staffers of the retailer invited counterparts at American military installations elsewhere in the country, such as at U.S. Army Garrison Italy in Vicenza and Camp Darby near Livorno, to join the walkout in solidarity, the Aviano worker said.
It’s still unclear whether those places will see demonstrations as well.
Italians employed by AAFES work at three locations in Aviano: the exchange on the main base, the Express shoppette and laundromat on Area F, and the Subway sandwich shop and Four Seasons home and garden retailer on Area 1.
Early next year, those latter two businesses are set to be transferred from a mini mall to the main exchange several miles away. Area 1 is home to the base’s schools and education center, chapel, medical facilities, teen center and library.
The mall is dominated by the Four Seasons, which consists of a shoppette, furniture store and covered patio area with garden supplies. It used to house the Aviano exchange, which moved to a much larger space on the flight line at the turn of the century.
The merger of the Four Seasons with the exchange and the Subway’s move to the facility’s food court are intended to “provide greater customer convenience through one-stop shopping,” AAFES spokesman Chris Ward said in September.
That was disputed by Angelo Zaccaria, a union coordinator for Aviano employees, who said then that the Four Seasons is closing because it’s losing money and that the decision violates the workers’ contract with the base.
“For the local economy, 44 people are 44 families that lose their jobs,” Zaccaria said. “There are people who have been working for 40 years.”
About 760 Italians are employed at Aviano, according to Zaccaria. The two unions that represent workers at bases around Italy generally are very protective of positions negotiated with the U.S.
Next week’s planned strike would be the second in 18 months for Italians working for the U.S. military. In June 2023, walkouts were held at various bases over contract demands.
