HAL workers launch countrywide indefinite strike over wage revision

All India Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Trade Unions Co-ordination Committee (ALHALTUCC) on Monday started its indefinite strike for 'fair and early settlement of wage revision of the employees'.

Speaking to ANI, General Secretary of Hindustan Aeronautics Employees Association (HAEA) Suryadevara Chandrashekhar said: "The HAL executives have taken a gross hike of 35 per cent and 110 per cent to 140 per cent in perks and we are just demanding parity." He said that so far 11 rounds of negotiations had been held with the management and wage committees but nothing fruitful was achieved as the management was claiming that the company's financial condition was not good.

Chandrashekhar said that the ALHALTUCC had "no other option as they are forced to go on agitation path, for achieving fair and early wage revision of the employees."

On October 1, in a letter to HAL, Chandrashekhar had said that the firm "did not respect the advices of the Defence Ministry and the Conciliation authorities to negotiate and resolve the issue in an amicable way."

Responding to the letter, the HAL had said that the proposed indefinite strike by firm's trade union was illegal and workers will lose various company benefits if they go ahead with it.

The statement further read that the AIHALTUCC has decided to resort to an indefinite strike to fulfil their "untenable demands" and the unreasonable nature of their demands had been brought out in a number of meetings.

HAL added that the management was open for discussions and conclusion of wage revision effective from January 1 could be achieved only with the co-operation of the unions based on realistic and affordable demands.