One AI union defers strike plan; no further crackdown

Air India’s junior ground-handling staff, whose union the management had formally derecognised yesterday for having earlier gone on strike, decided today to not walk off the job again, for the time being.

The Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU) had earlier announced a strike from June 1 on pay and personnel matters -- this was well prior to last week’s Mangalore air crash and the two-day strike that followed it, on a different issue, leading to yesterday’s derecognition. The decision to stay on the job, for now, was taken today after a meeting with the chief labour commissioner, on the earlier set of issues.

“The management has announced the date of the disbursement of salary. On the other issue, of shortage of staff and all, the management informed that they will reply in 15 days. Till then, we are not going on strike,” said ACEU president Dinakar Shetty.

The government-owned carrier still has another strike notice, from June 12, given yesterday by the engineers’ union. They were the other union which went on strike after the air crash and then called it off; the management dismissed some of their members and also derecognised them yesterday. The union, accordingly, gave the new strike notice.

There were no further dismissals or suspensions on the flash strike issue, or any new action by the unions in question either. AI has other emplopyee unions, too, which did not go on strike in the wake of the air crash.

The carrier today resumed the normal schedule of operations across all routes and carried 32,000 passengers in the domestic network, said a formal statement.

Also, the airline’s All India Cabin Crew Association announced they’d provide free legal services to the kin of the cabin crew who died in the crash, killing 158 people on board, and also pay over Rs 1 lakh to every deceased crew member’s family.

New aviation safety panel

The government on Friday announced setting up of a Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council within the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

DGCA Chairman Naseem Zaidi will head the 28-member body. The members, to be constituted for a year, will be drawn from various areas of aviation. There is also a possibility of participation by representatives of Boeing, Airbus, the International Civil Aviation Organization and the US Federal Aviation Administration as special invitees for meetings.