Labour Commissioner calls AI union, mgmt for talks

With a strike threat by Air India pilots looming large, the Regional Labour Commissioner has called the union and the management was tripartite talks here on Monday.

The Regional Labour Commissioner has issued notices to the management and the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) which has threatened a day's strike on March 9.

Despite the strike call, the ICPA has expressed "complete support and cooperation" to the government whenever it takes a decision on evacuating Indians from the strife-hit Libya.

In a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi, the ICPA said it would extend "complete support and cooperation for evacuation of the people of our country in Libya".

ICPA General Secretary Rishabh Kapur said the pilots would carry out this job "on an honorary basis, notwithstanding any FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitation) and payment, as we have done in the past".

He also blamed the airline CMD Arvind Jadhav for "deceiving us by repeatedly going back on his word" and "provoking us for the last two years" by taking no action on the agreements reached during the period and on various other issues.

A week before the ICPA strike call, the only other pilots' body in Air India, Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), had also threatened a strike on issues similar to that of the ICPA.

While the ICPA represents about 800 pilots of the erstwhile Indian Airlines, the IPG represents the cockpit crew of the pre-merger Air India.

However, after a meeting with the management, the IPG leaders are understood to have decided not to precipitate the matter now.

The ICPA has served a 14-day strike notice charging the management with having failed to address their grievances and violated agreements on issues like pay parity and better working conditions.

The union, which is also protesting the "withdrawal" of flights from profitable routes "to benefit private airlines", said they were "compelled to issue the strike notice on account of the actions of the incompetent and dishonest handling of industrial relations by the higher echelons of the management".

The ICPA also alleged "racial discrimination", charging the management with "benefiting expat pilots who have been engaged to fly Air India routes" and underutilising Indian pilots. It has also accused the management of violating a 2009 Memorandum of Settlement and failing to implement the 6th Pay Commission recommendations.