Air India staff stage walkout

Mumbai: A large number of employees of Air India staged a walkout for two hours on Friday in protest against the delay in payment of June salaries. Around 300 employees staged a demonstration outside the Mumbai airport.
George Abraham, general secretary, Aviation Industry Employees Guild (AIEG), claimed that the protest was successful and peaceful and over 70 per cent of the employees of the National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL) took part in it. The unions charged that the airline went back on its assurance that salary payment would be advanced to July 3 from July 15. Payment of salaries for Air India staff in grades 1 to 9 and Indian Airlines employees in grades 1 to 3 and 6 has been postponed.
Vivek Rao, regional secretary, Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU) said: “The ACEU and the AIEG represent 21,000 employees out of the total 31,000. We were promised salaries on July 3, at least for the lower grade employees who constitute around 60 per cent of the workforce. The demonstration was only to show our unity. Our intent is to enable a turnaround of the airline and the employees only want to help facilitate that at the earliest, but we have to be involved in the discussions.”
A statement from Air India said the agitation “failed to have any impact on flights across the country.” It said reports reaching the airline’s headquarters from all stations on Air India’s network indicated that the departure and arrival of all flights during the strike period was as per normal schedule.
The Air India management, in a notice issued on Thursday, warned that those taking part in the July 3 strike would be viewed seriously and appropriate action would be taken against them, including deduction of wages and withdrawal of the productivity-linked incentive payment until further orders.
04/07/09 Ramnath Subbu/The Hindu

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Categories: Airports Jul 2009, NACIL Jul 2009