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Monday, Nov 09, 2009
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ICPA pilots firm on strike

Ravi Sharma

BANGALORE: The Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICPA), which represents 560 pilots belonging to the erstwhile Indian Airlines, is firm on striking work from November 24.

A nine-member central committee of the ICPA is meeting the Central Labour Commissioner in New Delhi on Monday.

An ICPA functionary said they had not received their productivity-linked incentives since August and neither had they met with the AI Chairman and Managing Director (CMD).

Recently, members of the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), which represents over 400 Air India pilots, had been “weighing [their] options, but not likely to join” their colleagues from the erstwhile Indian Airlines who threatened to go on a strike from November 24. These pilots, like most of the national carrier’s 31,000 employees, have not been paid salaries in full since August.

Senior IPG functionaries, while pointing out that the union members were agitated over not receiving flying and other allowances (which constitute up to 90 per cent of take-home pay) for September and October, said they were still hopeful that the management would clear the dues by November 10.

The IPG held talks with AI Chairman and Managing Director Arvind Jadhav on Wednesday and Thursday last.

“Our members are agitated and would like us to announce strike action. We are sympathetic to the cause of our colleagues from Indian Airlines, but Air India’s holding company — the National Aviation Company of India Limited — does not have the working capital to pay salaries,” explained a functionary. The management is also asking pilots to take a cut in salaries.

Foreign pilots issue

However, nearly 180 expatriate pilots have been sheltered from non-payment of salaries and cuts in perks and emoluments.

According to the IPG, these pilots, on year-long contracts, still receive their salaries — that are at least 25 per cent more than that of Indian pilots — on time, are given five-star hotel accommodation and chauffer-driven cars even while on non-flying duties, and they get nine days’ paid leave every month, business class tickets every month to destinations of their choice but pay no income tax to the Indian exchequer. They are also given one month’s salary as bonus.

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