Air India faces fresh workers' trouble in Nepal

Kathmandu: After losing a protracted labour dispute in Nepal's Supreme Court last year, India's flagship carrier Air India now faces fresh turmoil in the Himalayan republic with workers threatening to disrupt operations.
The airline's non-permanent staff is reported to have given a five-day ultimatum to the authorities to implement the verdict issued by the Supreme Court of Nepal in June 2010, failing which they have warned they would stop handling cargo at the Tribhuvan International Airport, Nepal's only international airport.
They have also warned that they would ask all ticketing agencies to stop issuing Air India flight tickets and, finally, seek to disrupt flights.
The workers' move comes even as Nepal kicked off its Nepal Tourism Year 2011 on Saturday with the avowed goal of bringing one million tourists this year, over one-fifth of whom would be Indian tourists.
The unrest is the sequel to the court battle started nearly six years ago when casual and temporary workers demanded that they be made permanent staffers.
Air India, which began operations in Nepal in 1952, rejected the demand, saying it was not an organisation registered in Nepal but an Indian government institution. As it began flights to Nepal after an agreement between the governments of India and Nepal, Air India said it was not bound by Nepal's labour law.
04/01/11 Indo-Asian News Service/NDTV.com

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

Categories: Air India Jan 2011, Foreign Jan 2011