Air India to sell 5 planes; unions set to protest again

State-run carrier Air India has offered to sell five Boeing 777 planes, according to a tender document posted on its website on Friday. Bidders have until November 19 to submit their bids for the planes that were earlier planned to be leased out.

Meanwhile, Air India employees would again raise the banner of protest by organising rallies and meetings soon, accusing the management of “overlooking their legitimate rights” and delaying payment of back wages and other dues.

Though no strike threat has been given, a joint forum of eight Air India unions representing different sections of staff of the national carrier has said they would soon start wearing black badges, take out silent marches and rallies, hold gate meetings and adopt a ‘No pay, No work’ policy.

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[caption id=“attachment_496587” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Threat of strike looms again? PTI[/caption]

The unions said the date and time of protest would be decided shortly. Air India pilots had gone on a 58-day long strike over career progression issue from 7 May.

“It appears that the management is not serious about all the issues raised by us. The management intentionally, with a motive to create industrial unrest, has overlooked our legitimate rights and violating all the bilateral agreements,” the Joint Action Forum of Unions, Associations, Guilds of Air India, said in a notice to all its members.

It said the management had “failed to clear” outstanding salary and and allowances and regularise these payments.

The forum demanded that anomalies pointed out in regard to seniority, pay-scale and other issues, arising out of the HR integration of erstwhile Indian Airlines and Air India employees, should be rectified before implementing the recommendations of Dharmadhikari Committee on HR issues.

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It also said that bilateral agreements should be entered into by the management with all the unions.

It claimed that talks over the decision to hive off Air India’s engineering services and create a subsidiary on Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) had “failed”.

The forum comprises Executive Pilot’s Union, Indian Pilots Guild, Air India Engineer’s Association, Air India Officers Association, Air India Employees’ Union, All India Service Engineers’ Association, All India Cabin Crew Association and Air India Aircraft Engineers’ Association.

Agencies