MUMBAI: Privatised carrier Air India is currently in the midst of its first labour-strife as about 1,700 aircraft maintenance technicians working with a government-owned engineering company that handles maintenance and repair jobs for the airline went on an indefinite ‘tools down agitation’ on Tuesday.
Their demands include salary revision, employment contract renewal, and inclusion of dearness allowance.
The stir began at 9am. By evening, a few AI flights from Delhi, including to Mumbai, Surat and Pune, were delayed because of the agitation, said a technician, requesting anonymity. However, an AI spokesperson said there was no effect of the stir and flights are operating normally.
Flight status tracking apps showed the three flights were delayed by 30 minutes to two hours, but the reason for delay isn’t cited. “Though aircraft maintenance engineers have stepped in to carry out jobs done by technicians, if the agitation continues, more flights could be hit,” said a source. Among the jobs these technicians handle for AI are aircraft fuelling, readying the aircraft for departure, marshalling, and maintenance work.
The striking technicians are employed on a ‘fixed term contract’ with Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL), a government-owned company, which was formerly the engineering subsidiary of AI.
In the evening, AIESL retaliated by sending termination notices to a few technicians who were on strike. “Your services are no longer required by the company and your employment contract stands terminated with immediate effect from March 15, 2022,” the letter said.
Their demands include salary revision, employment contract renewal, and inclusion of dearness allowance.
The stir began at 9am. By evening, a few AI flights from Delhi, including to Mumbai, Surat and Pune, were delayed because of the agitation, said a technician, requesting anonymity. However, an AI spokesperson said there was no effect of the stir and flights are operating normally.
Flight status tracking apps showed the three flights were delayed by 30 minutes to two hours, but the reason for delay isn’t cited. “Though aircraft maintenance engineers have stepped in to carry out jobs done by technicians, if the agitation continues, more flights could be hit,” said a source. Among the jobs these technicians handle for AI are aircraft fuelling, readying the aircraft for departure, marshalling, and maintenance work.
The striking technicians are employed on a ‘fixed term contract’ with Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL), a government-owned company, which was formerly the engineering subsidiary of AI.
In the evening, AIESL retaliated by sending termination notices to a few technicians who were on strike. “Your services are no longer required by the company and your employment contract stands terminated with immediate effect from March 15, 2022,” the letter said.
For all the latest business News Click Here
Denial of responsibility! TechAI is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
