The two-day strike by a section of Air India employees was called off on Wednesday, and there are indications that normal operations will be restored in two to three days.
“At the intervention of the Chief Labour Commissioner (CLC) and in the interest of travelling public, we are calling off our spontaneous, flash strike with immediate effect. We are communicating to our rank and file to join duty immediately,” Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU) general secretary J. B. Kadian told reporters after a meeting with CLC S.K. Mukhopadhyay. The meeting lasted for more than two hours.
He said the engineering staff would also report for duty immediately. The strike came within two days of an Air India plane having crashed at Mangalore, killing 158 people, including six- member crew.
Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court restrained them from continuing the strike. The National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL), which operates Air India, rushed to the Mumbai and Delhi High Courts , seeking directions for an end to the agitation.
Air India Chairman-cum-Managing Director Arvind Jadhav said it would take about three-four days for normality to be restored, and the carrier planned to operate 78 flights on Thursday. Taking a tough stand against the striking employees, the management issued termination notices to 17 employees and suspended 15 others.
Air India officials said nearly 140 flights, mostly in the domestic sector, could not be operated because of the strike since Tuesday.
The strike, they said, dealt a blow to the cash-strapped carrier by causing it a loss of nearly Rs. 12 crore and affecting the travel plans of thousands of passengers who remained stranded in major cities.
An estimated 20,000 engineers and ground staff struck work since Tuesday, protesting against the delay in the payment of May salary and a “gag order” clamped on them by the management to prevent them not to go public with their problems. The order in question, the management maintained, was issued way back in July last year as a general circular.
Though the Mumbai High Court declined to pass any order on the NACIL's suit for injunction against the ACEU and the All-India Aircraft Engineers Association, which spearheaded the strike, the Delhi High Court directed the unions not to continue with the strike and not to go on strike with effect from May 31 in terms of the May 14 strike notice. “For the May 14 strike notice, conciliation proceedings will be held on May 28,” Mr. Kadian told reporters.
Employee representatives and Air India officials held one round of talks. but the standoff continued.
“At the intervention of the Chief Labour Commissioner (CLC) and in the interest of travelling public, we are calling off our spontaneous, flash strike with immediate effect. We are communicating to our rank and file to join duty immediately,” Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU) general secretary J. B. Kadian told reporters after a meeting with CLC S.K. Mukhopadhyay. The meeting lasted for more than two hours.
He said the engineering staff would also report for duty immediately. The strike came within two days of an Air India plane having crashed at Mangalore, killing 158 people, including six- member crew.
Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court restrained them from continuing the strike. The National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL), which operates Air India, rushed to the Mumbai and Delhi High Courts , seeking directions for an end to the agitation.
Air India Chairman-cum-Managing Director Arvind Jadhav said it would take about three-four days for normality to be restored, and the carrier planned to operate 78 flights on Thursday. Taking a tough stand against the striking employees, the management issued termination notices to 17 employees and suspended 15 others.
Air India officials said nearly 140 flights, mostly in the domestic sector, could not be operated because of the strike since Tuesday.
The strike, they said, dealt a blow to the cash-strapped carrier by causing it a loss of nearly Rs. 12 crore and affecting the travel plans of thousands of passengers who remained stranded in major cities.
An estimated 20,000 engineers and ground staff struck work since Tuesday, protesting against the delay in the payment of May salary and a “gag order” clamped on them by the management to prevent them not to go public with their problems. The order in question, the management maintained, was issued way back in July last year as a general circular.
Though the Mumbai High Court declined to pass any order on the NACIL's suit for injunction against the ACEU and the All-India Aircraft Engineers Association, which spearheaded the strike, the Delhi High Court directed the unions not to continue with the strike and not to go on strike with effect from May 31 in terms of the May 14 strike notice. “For the May 14 strike notice, conciliation proceedings will be held on May 28,” Mr. Kadian told reporters.
Employee representatives and Air India officials held one round of talks. but the standoff continued.
0 comments