Stern disciplining to clip staff union wings at Air India soon

New Delhi: Enraged by the militancy of the 31,000-strong Air India staff union, the government is firming up an action plan to discipline the state-owned carrier’s employees who resort to frequent strikes to press their demands.
The Union Cabinet has asked civil aviation minister Praful Patel to devise a strategy in this regard. Says an official communication based on the Cabinet’s deliberation on this issue, which was reviewed by FE: “The minister (Patel) should prepare an appropriate course of action to deal with Air India employees. He may consult the core group of ministers on civil aviation sector or take guidance from the Prime Minister himself.”
The idea, official sources told FE, is to empower the Air India management to tackle recalcitrant staff with an iron hand. This is considered necessary as frequent strikes, apart from causing financial loss, inconvenience travellers due to flight cancellations.
The cabinet meeting which discussed the issue coincided with the recent two-day strike called by the airline’s nearly 14,000 ground staff including highly-paid aircraft engineers who, on an average, draw around Rs 2.5 lakh every month.
Backed by the government, the airline management had sacked 58 employees besides suspending a few dozens. The strike cost the airline nearly Rs 12 crore in revenue besides damaging the brand.
09/06/10 Nirbhay Kumar/Financial Express

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: NACIL Jun 2010