Nudged by the Supreme Court, the warring Air India management and unions representing pilots and cabin crew are all set to come to the negotiating table to settle nearly eight year-old contentious labour disputes pertaining to pay, working hours and promotion which had led to annual strikes thereby bleeding the national carrier.
Tired of strikes by the pilots, the Apex court on Wednesday gave the Air India management three months to resolve all contentious issues saying "enough is enough".
"The airline is in the red. It is an extraordinary situation. Finalise a package within three months which you will offer to the employers and members of the petitioner union. Then you may sit together and then come to court to appraise us what the status is", a bench headed by justice T S Thakur told Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi who appeared for the Air India management.
Rohatgi told the court that after preliminary discussions, 18,000 out of its 21,450 strong workforce have already agreed to the pay issues and talks will soon be held with disgruntled pilots, cabin crew and engineers association "who are yet to come on board".
The bench is hearing pleas against "arbitrary change of service condition and reduction of salary by 25 per cent", had earlier sternly told both sides that the airline will 'continue to bleed' if both sides did not sit together and thrash out differences once and for all". The bench on Wednesday again said "amicable settlement of the disputes was the best than fighting it out in the court".
10/09/15 Harish V Nair/indiatoday
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Tired of strikes by the pilots, the Apex court on Wednesday gave the Air India management three months to resolve all contentious issues saying "enough is enough".
"The airline is in the red. It is an extraordinary situation. Finalise a package within three months which you will offer to the employers and members of the petitioner union. Then you may sit together and then come to court to appraise us what the status is", a bench headed by justice T S Thakur told Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi who appeared for the Air India management.
Rohatgi told the court that after preliminary discussions, 18,000 out of its 21,450 strong workforce have already agreed to the pay issues and talks will soon be held with disgruntled pilots, cabin crew and engineers association "who are yet to come on board".
The bench is hearing pleas against "arbitrary change of service condition and reduction of salary by 25 per cent", had earlier sternly told both sides that the airline will 'continue to bleed' if both sides did not sit together and thrash out differences once and for all". The bench on Wednesday again said "amicable settlement of the disputes was the best than fighting it out in the court".
10/09/15 Harish V Nair/indiatoday
