Air India union defers Dec 22 strike call

A section of the Air India employees has deferred its proposed strike from December 22 following an assurance from the National Aviation Company of India (NACIL) management to look into their grievances.

The employees owing allegiance to the Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU), which is one of the unions of the erstwhile Indian Airlines, had on December 7 threatened to go on strike from December 22 alleging that the management had violated a conciliation pact signed with its representatives in regard to their transport contract way back in February 2001.

The assurance comes after the ACEU representatives had a conciliatory meeting with the NACIL — the holding company of the national carrier Air India — management at the Regional Labour Commissioner's office here today, a union leader said.

"We have deferred our proposed strike call after we had a successful meeting with the management and the regional labour commissioner. We have been assured that our demands will be looked into," ACEU national president Dinakar Shetty told PTI here today.

"The next meeting with the management will now be held on January 12," regional secretary Vivek Rao said, adding, "we will, however, continue to discuss the issue with the management."

The union's Mumbai region unit claims a representation of around 3,000 members, who mostly comprise the ground-handling and cargo handling employees of the erstwhile Indian Airlines, which had been merged with Air India some years back.