New Delhi: The 10-day strike by almost half of the state-owned Air India pilots came to an end tonight, with around 880 agitating pilots set to join work by 10 pm Friday.
In the third round of talks between the Civil Aviation Ministry representatives and the sacked union leaders, the government agreed to re-instate them, re-recognise their union, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), and withdraw cases against them in the High Court and the Chief Labour Commissioner’s office.
Air India said normal operations will resume in 24 hours. The airline had stopped taking bookings for five days during the strike period.
The strike that crippled Air India’s domestic operations saw the pilots climbing down from their demands for immediate pay parity. A major sticking point was the pilots’ demand for compensation of 75 “fixed flying hours allowance,” which their erstwhile Air India colleagues get.
“They (the pilots) agreed to submit their demands to the Justice Dharmadhikari committee,” said an official. “We agreed to request the committee to fast track its work,” he added.
The committee, formed to look into staff integration issues of Air India and erstwhile Indian Airlines, is expected to submit its report by September.
“We have been assured that the committee’s report will be implemented by November,” said sacked ICPA general secretary Rishabh Kapoor. However, he added that the government has not given them a date of its implementation.
“The pilots will resume work by 10 pm tonight,” he said. The Delhi High Court will decide on the contempt notice against three ICPA leaders, Kapoor, president Ashim Bhinder and Amitesh Ahuja, on May 25.
07/05/11 Indian Express
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