Wage delay: AI employees lay blame at managements door

After being informed of deferment of their salaries by 15 days for the month of June,Air Indias employees have lashed out at the carriers management....

After being informed of deferment of their salaries by 15 days for the month of June,Air Indias employees have lashed out at the carriers management and said that it was the companys management which was responsible for the current state of affairs and not its employees. Why should we suffer for what the management does? We do not have any contribution in the losses of the company and unions are unable to figure out what to do, said Capt RC Ottal,general secretary,Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA).

After the airlines decision to defer salary,employees owing allegiance to various trade unions have come together in objection to the decision. The associations of pilots,aircraft maintenance engineers and officers of Nacil,erstwhile Air India and Indian,have come together to form a common body called the Joint Action Committee of Nacil Trade Unions (JAC) and its main objective is to help the authorities to turn around the company and restore its lost glory, said a statement from ICPA.

We are dismayed that the employees of Air India had to learn of the delay in payment of salary,PLI and allowances to employees through reports on Sunday and are deeply distressed that the management has embarked on such a serious move in gross violation of the Industrial Disputes Act and in breach of all agreements,settlements and that too without discussing this drastic step with the unions, said a statement from the Federation of Nacil Employees (FONE). According to FONE,it represents 10,000 odd employees from erstwhile Air India and Indian and is affiliated to the Shiv Sena.

We are of the opinion that the employees are in no way responsible for the situation that the airline is in and the employees should not be made to pay for mismanagement. The government and the management must introspect and revisit their flawed policies,before delaying the wages of employees, said FONEs statement.

An Air India official laid the blame on the governments civil aviation policies and said that unchecked growth in capacity was the main reason why the airline was in such a mess. The governments ambiguous policies in opening the markets to private carriers led to excessive capacity in the markets,which led to price wars. This in turn not only caused the crash of the product but also led all the players towards bankruptcy on account of falling revenues and load factors, he said.