AI sacks 58 employees, Union gives another strike call from Jun 12

Mumbai/New Delhi, May 27 (PTI) Air India de-recognised
its two major trade unions, sealed their offices and sacked 58
employeees in an unprecedented crackdown triggering a call for
another strike from June 12 by defiant union leaders.
The unions and management appeared headed for fresh
confrontation following Thursday's strike call by the Air
Corporation Employees Union (ACEU) given just a day after the
state-owned airline crushed the two-day old strike by a
section of Air India employees.
The ACEU was derecognised along with All India Aircraft
Engineers' Association (AIAEA). The striking employees
accounted for roughly 60 per cent of AI staff strength.
Clearing the backlog, the airline gradually restored
normalcy by evening though 25 flights were cancelled for the
day. International flights were normal, an official said.
Coming down heavily on union leaders and employees
shortly after they withdrew the strike following a Delhi High
Court order and some tough talk by the Government, the
Management Thursday terminated the services of 41 more
employees--some of them Union leaders--taking the total number
who were sacked in two days to 58. Another 24 employees have
been suspended after nine more faced this action on Thursday.
This is the first time that employees have been sacked by
AI in large numbers.
ACEU and AIAEA have been de-recognised by the management
of National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL) and their
offices have also been sealed, NACIL sources said. NACIL
is the holding company of Air India.
"The de-recognition order came in last night and their
offices have also been sealed," the sources said. Courts have
also been approached for caveats, an AI official said.
ACEU General Secretary J B Kadiyan said another notice
for strike from June 12 has been served by the union.
"Air India's CMD Arvind Jadhav is carrying out
dictatorship. He is bent on destroying the airline. He is
trying to instigate the workers to go for action and then
declare a lockout on that pretext," he said.
"This is a conspiracy," Kadiyan told reporters in New
Delhi, accusing Jadhav of following a "Hitlerian" approach.
ACEU and AIAEA had gone on a flash-strike on Tuesday to
protest a 'gag order' directing the office-bearers of NACIL
trade union to refrain from making public statements and
harming the image of the company.
Kadiyan while claiming that the management initiated
disciplinary proceedings "immediately after we signed the
conciliation proceedings last evening" said "the employees who
did not join the strike were also served termination notices".
"We withdrew our strike on a personal appeal by Chief
Labour Commissioner S K Mukhopadhyay and in the interest of
the company," the ACEU leader said, adding that all offices of
ACEU and AIAEA across the country were sealed through the
night.
"Our offices have not only been sealed but the
management representatives have tampered with our records and
even taken away some of them. How shall we fight the court
battle when we don't have any record? How can we function," he
said.
"Our records have been sealed and we cannot take any
legal remedy. We can't reply to the notices issued by the
court," Kadiyan added. PTI