Air India meeting leaves employees disgruntled

Mumbai: Employee unions say it is meaningless to discuss safety measures when the airline does not even have adequate funds to pay the staff their salaries.
What was meant to be a meeting to resolve the ongoing cold war between Air India management and its employees over issues plaguing the national carrier ended up in another dead end, with employee unions terming the marathon meeting "meaningless".
Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav invited top people from all the 14 unions of the national carrier to attend the meeting at Airline House in New Delhi on June 27 to discuss ways to bring the airline back on track.
One of the top union leaders, who participated in the meeting, said, "Initially, we were very happy, thinking that finally the CMD is taking our views in consideration for a revival of the airline, but his actual motive was something else.
"In the six-and-a-half-hour meeting, which started at 4 pm and ended at 10.30 pm, the CMD spoke at
length on different issues, including the salary and safety of employees.
"But his actual agenda was exposed when he stressed that the airline needed funds for paying an equity infusion of Rs 6,600 crore by July 2 or else it will have to be shut down.
"He also justified the non-payment of salaries by saying, 'the airline does not have any money so the delay in salaries is obvious. And if funds do not reach the airline in time, the employees might not get salary for the next three months'".
01/07/11 Bipin Kumar Singh/MiD DAY

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Categories: Air India Jul 2011