AI to ground 15% fleet in case of strike, refuses talks with unions

New Delhi: Air India has threatened to ground 15% of its flights if its recalcitrant employees don’t withdraw their plan to strike work from June 11 midnight. The state-owned carrier has already entered into formal arrangements with foreign as well as private domestic carriers and put in place a contingency plan to provide services, with only 85% of its fleet operating. According to an official source, Air India is fully prepared to operate with reduced capacity for a month rather than give in to the “unjustified’” demands of its 31,000-strong unionised staff.
What would give strength to the Air India’s latest zero-tolerance approach is the recent government decision to give it a free hand to tackle employee agitation, as reported by FE on Wednesday.
“Most of the things to deal with the situation if the employees go ahead with their planned strike are in place. We would try to minimise inconvenience to passengers,” the source said.
With the hardened management stance, most feel that the union is unlikely to go ahead with the strike. Airline sources said that the management even refused to sit for negotiations with the union representatives, as it has already derecognised it as part of the disciplinary action.
10/06/10 Nirbhay Kumar/Financial Express

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Categories: NACIL Jun 2010