Air India's 'Casual' Workers To Strike
Demanding regular employment, a section of the casual laborers employed by the public sector airline, Air India, in Karipur International Airport is planning to go on an indefinite strike from April 27.
The casual laborers, around 100 in number, are currently employed as catering assistants, baggage handlers and cleaning workers. They were formerly employed with Indian Airlines as casual labourers until it was merged with the Air India in 2007. The workers say that they now get work for only 180 days in a year. They are forced to do odd jobs for the remaining days to make both ends meet. They allege that the management has outsourced the work of Air India flights to private agencies.Even as the casual laborers employed by the airline in airports such as Ahmedabad has been regularized, the airline management was not ready to regularize the casual labourers in the Karipur airport, says the association.
"All the casual labourers employed by the Air India have been working with the airline for the last 10-20 years. Since they do not have regular jobs, they are being forced to do other works," said K Anandan Nair, general secretary of the Air India National Aviation Workers Association.
For Reprint Rights: timescontent.com
Copyright 2012 Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd.All Rights Reserved
