Indian staff strike….

Today, all those who are traveling by Indian Airlines are very angry. They have to stand in long queue and wait for endless hours, because the flights are delayed.


This is because employees of airline Indian have declared an indefinite nationwide strike, disrupting air traffic and throwing flight schedules off gear. An estimated 12,000-strong ground staff – including check-in staff, ticketing staff, baggage handlers, loaders – are demanding promotional parity with their Air India counterparts post merger.

Sources at the Bangalore airport told CNN-IBN that additional staff has been called in to take care of the problem. Only two flights took off since morning as opposed to an average of 19 flights that take off from Bangalore airport daily.

The employees who have gone on strike are also angry because The ACEU, which is spearheading the strike, had held talks with the management of the airliner a few months ago and Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had then asked the management to work out a solution.

However, nothing was done and ACEU claims it is still willing to sort is out. "We are open to talks. We are ready for settlement. We are urging the management not to be adamant as we cannot put pressure on passengers. But we also have to find a solution to our problems," Badola was quoted as saying.

The strike did find some supporters in the red brigade with CPIM-M backing the protestors. CPI leader and MP Gurudas Dasgupta alleged that the 'Indian' management has not taken care of the workers' interests.

"I support this strike. The management has been rigorously, outrageously anti-worker. They have not taken care of the interest of the workers," Dasgupta was quoted as saying by PTI.

Source: http://www.ibnlive.com/news/