A question mark hangs on whether Air India operations will be affected from April 2. The Joint Forum of Guilds, Unions Associations of Air India has written to the Prime Minister urging his intervention to ensure that their “legitimate wages” of several months are paid.
The Joint Forum has threatened that they “will be unable to discharge their duties from April 2” if their dues were not paid. Eight unions have come together to form the Joint Forum. “While we appreciate the financial difficulty facing the company, however, unlike Air India which can turn to the Central Government for funds, employees have no such option. The employees and their families have to suffer the humiliation of loan defaults,” the Forum said in a statement.
The Forum decision to threaten a strike comes after it failed to secure any “firm proposal” from the debt-ridden national carrier for clearing their dues at a meeting with the management in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Indian Pilots Guild, Air India Officers Association, Air India Engineers Association and Air India Aircraft Engineers Association are all part of the Joint Forum.
Interestingly, the Air Corporations Employees Union, which claims to be the oldest and largest trade union in the airline, claims there will be no strike of ground staff, cabin crew and other categories belonging to the Union.
The Airline Management had earlier given a commitment of paying the pending wages in a staggered manner.