MUMBAI: A day after the State government filed an FIR against Cambata Aviation and Bird Worldwide Flight Service for allegedly refusing to cooperate with government officials when they attempted to seize the equipment as per court directions, the battle for dues pending to workers has turned political.
Social Activist Anjali Damania, who had earlier blamed Shiv Sena MP Vinayak Raut for workers not getting paid as he was heading of the labour union at Cambata Aviation, said on Monday that unions led by Congress MLA Nitesh Rane and NCP MLC Kiran Pawaskar had delayed the process as well.
“Instead of fighting for workers’ rights , the union led by Nitesh Rane has has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court for a stay on recovery procedures. In a letter dated December 6 to the Mumbai District Collector, they have objected to this as well,” Ms. Damania said while addressing a sit-in protest by workers at Azad Maidan. She also alleged that Mr. Pawaskar, who was earlier with the Sena before switching loyalties to the NCP, did nothing for the workers.
Three days ago, Ms. Damania and a workers’ delegation had met with Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray at his residence, Matoshri, to raise the issue of Mr. Raut’s alleged connivance with the company management to deny workers their dues.
Mr. Rane questioned Ms. Damania’s U-turn on the issue. “The only recognised union in the company was Sena-affiliated. How can our actions matter in the case? We would like to know the reasons behind her switching sides just a day after meeting Mr. Thackeray,” he said.
The State government had initiated legal action against Cambata Aviation for the delay in paying its employees, following which equipment owned by the company and leased to Bird Worldwide was seized.
In a statement, Bird Worldwide Flight Service claimed innocence, saying the State government, the tehsildar and the Mumbai District Collectorate had seized equipment between January 6 and January 8, despite the HC dated January 6. The court had directed Bird Worldwide to file the list of equipment being used by them and its value, with an affidavit on or before January 12. “BWFS was in lawful possession of the equipment as lessee and didn’t violate any law,” the statement said.
