In the weeks before Alitalia ceased to exist, workers staged strikes and protests denouncing their treatment.

And for many, the battle is far from over.

“We are here to express first of all our pain and also the solidarity for all our colleagues who were forced to sign a humiliating contract,” says Cristina Poggesi, one of many flight attendants who protested in Rome this week.

The former Alitalia employees stripped off their old uniforms in opposition to the takeover.

Standing in rows atop Capitoline Hill, the women lowered their shoulder bags to the cobblestone pavement, before slowly removing their jackets, skirts, and high-heeled shoes.

Wearing only their undergarments, they shouted “We are Alitalia!” in unison.

The former employees intend to pressure the Italian government into extending unemployment benefits for as long as five years.

Italy’s new airline ITA takes off, as Alitalia is permanently grounded

‘Arrivederci’: Final flight for Italy’s troubled airline Alitalia

Airline workers protest against possible Alitalia layoffs

A failed plan

Critics of ITA have cast doubt on the viability of the new airline.

They say its size, workforce and fleet are designed to make it attractive to foreign airlines, in a bid to secure a takeover deal.

“It is a failed plan from the industrial point of view that doesn’t serve the country, doesn’t serve the community to which an enormous amount of money is asked, that seriously affects the workers,” says union leader Antonio Amoroso.

Among its routes, ITA plans to operate flights to New York, Tokyo, Boston and Miami from Rome and Milan.

European destinations will also include Paris, London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt and Geneva.