State-owned Air India on Thursday derecognised the two agitating unions?Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU) and All India Aircraft Engineers Association (AIAEA) triggering fresh round of confrontation between the airline and a large section of its staff. The troubled carrier also sacked 58 employees and suspended 24 as part of disciplinary action.
?AIAEA and ACEU have indulged in regular violations of code of discipline and of the settlements and acting in a manner resulting in the disruption of the normal working of the company and breach of industrial peace and harmony,? Air India said in a statement.
The National Aviation Company of India Ltd (Nacil) which runs Air India and the budget airline Air India Express said in a statement that Industrial Disputes Act does not provide for recognition of trade unions.
?If that is the case how come the airline has been recognising the same unions since 1959. Now, the management is agitating us. The airline chairman wants reaction from us. The unions will react,? Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU) general secretary JB Kadian told FE.
The airline management started crushing the union leaders following a green signal from the government and a Delhi High Court order restraining the employees to go on strike. A section of the ground staff resorted to flash strike protesting the airline?s reportedly ?gag order? on Tuesday.
The two-day strike crippled the airline?s operation with over 132 flights going off the skies resulting into nearly Rs 12 crore loss for the airline. The operation is expected to become normal from Friday. The stir by nearly 14,000 staff began even as the airline struggled to come out of the tragic incident in which an Air India express flight crashed last week killing 158 passengers and crew out of 166 on board.
Given the inappropriate time of protest by employee unions the government this time seems to have decided to deal with staff with iron hand.
?Government would support the actions taken by the airline management. They have to ensure discipline and crack whip. What the employees have done is terrible,? a top aviation ministry official said.
The official said that Air India can always outsource part of the work to third parties or find some other arrangement. ?The management would certainly not give in this time,? he said.
While the government upheld the management?s stern action, the Left parties threw their weight behind unions demanding immediate recognition of unions. ?Air India management has arbitrarily withdrawn recognition of ACEU without assigning any reason,? a CPI-M politburo said in a statement.
The union leaders have alleged that airline management has refused to meet them. A late evening airline statement, however, said that the management will meet principal unions on June 1.