Air India’s ground handling staff has called a nationwide indefinite strike on Tuesday demanding payment of their HRA and CCA arrears among other performance incentive related issues. As per the Aviation Industry Employees Guild, the striking union, around 8,000 employees will be on strike across India till their demands are met.

The General Secretary of AIEG, Mr George Abraham, said, “We were assured that the recommendations of a high-powered committee for a performance-linked incentive that was compiled in a scientific manner will be accepted, but the management has rejected it.”

On HRA and CCA, the AIEG Secretary, Mr Sunil Khandvelkar, told Business Line, “HRA and CCA should be implemented from January 1997, which amounts to 15 per cent of the new basic as mentioned in the charter of demands and as per the Fifth Pay Commission.” Mr Abraham added that the Air India management wants to implement it only from July 2004.

Warning to union

However, a statement issued by Air India’s spokesperson said, “These issues have not been raised in any forum earlier and a majority of the wage issues had already been settled with the unions.”

The statement also warned the striking employees saying, “The union has not given any notice of the strike and is not supposed to disrupt any operations by adopting to such unethical means.” It added, “Any union resorting to such measures without giving prior notice would be dealt with appropriately.”

The national carrier’s spokesperson said, “No flights have been disrupted so far. We will do our best to see that the passengers are not inconvenienced and our flights are on time.”

In another statement issued later in the evening, the airline said it has hired the services of an external agency to prevent disruption of baggage handling operations, which require maximum manpower, and also the area most affected by the strike, according to the management.

Our New Delhi Bureau adds: The government officials expect the issues to be sorted out by today given the ongoing dialogue with the employees. However, some international airlines have taken precautions by asking their staff on leave t o join work and people who have finished their duty hours to put in additional hours, in case the need arises, to prevent inconvenience to passengers.