Air India smashes strike,sacks leaders

Hoping to restore full operations in three days,Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav said: “This strike was illegal. We have to bring in accountability,need to fix responsibility. Whatever action has to be taken,we have to go the whole hog… we have to come (down) with a heavy hand.”

The crackdown,unparalleled in the history of AI,is intended to make an example of the strike leaders,and discourage similar acts of indiscipline in future. “We will ensure that such an event is not repeated in future,” said Civil Aviation Secretary M Madhavan Nambiar.

Orders for termination of services and suspension will be served at the earliest and sent via speed-post to regional centres. “Action will be taken against these two unions,the process has been started for their de-recognition,” Jadhav said.

The strike led to cancellation of over 140 IC-coded flights operated by Indian Airlines,affecting 30,000 passengers and leaving almost 5,000 flyers stranded.

Revenue loss: Rs 12 crore in 33 hours.

At the airline headquarters,lawyers worked to abrogate all pacts signed with these two unions. Late tonight,AI had prepared a list of those whose productivity-linked incentives would be withdrawn.

Earlier in the day,Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel briefed the Cabinet on the strike and pushed for drastic measures to contain indiscipline. Concerned over the inconvenience to passengers,the Cabinet was said to have to given the go-ahead for stern action against those on strike.

Of the 17 sacked union leaders,12 belong to the Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU) and five to the All-India Aircraft Engineers Association (AIAEA). Those who services were terminated include ACEU president DK Shetty,general secretary JB Kadiyan,regional secretaries located in Mumbai,Chennai,Hyderabad and Kolkata; and AIAEA general secretary YV Raju,regional secretaries located in Delhi,Mumbai,Chennai and Kolkata.

Speaking to the media earlier,Kadiyan said that the strike had been called off and employees had been told to report for work immediately.

On the termination notices,Kadiyan said the Chief Labour Commissioner had assured them that no victimisation could take place when a reconciliation process was on.

The unions decided to go on a strike following a chargesheet filed against two union leaders for violating an order barring union leaders from publicly airing views detrimental to the commercial interest of the company.