Pilots' union of Air India calls for vote on strike and insolvency

Pilots of Air India will hold a secret ballot to decide whether to strike or take the cash-strapped airline to bankruptcy court to get their dues, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) told its members on Tuesday. 

“In spite of requests to clear our illegally withheld 25 per cent dues, there seems to be no intent to clear the dues immediately. We are being treated like bonded labour by not waiving off the notice period while not paying our salaries, flying allowances and International layover allowance in time,” ICPA said. It said it did not trust “any verbal commitments” as it had had several experiences, where even written agreements had been interpreted wrongly. A strike can be declared only after giving 14 days' notice to the employer. ICPA said the strike call would be taken after the secret ballot, “provided two-thirds of members of the respective regions vote for the decision to strike”. However, it said whether to approach NCLT would be decided by a simple majority vote. “The date of polling will be intimated by respective regional (chapters),” it said.