The second round of talks between the striking pilots of Air India and the Union Civil Aviation Ministry officials remained inconclusive on Thursday as a much-awaited breakthrough to end their nine-day-old strike turned could not be achieved.
"We are satisfied with the progress made so far. We hope a solution will be found over the next day or two,’’ Capt. Rishabh Kapur, General Secretary of the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), which is spearheading the strike told reporters at the end of the second round of talks that went on for more than four hours.
The third round of talks is scheduled to be held on Friday. However, both the sides kept mum on spelling out sticky issues which are believed to be defying an amicable settlement.
Civil Aviation Secretary Nasim Zaidi had said at the end of the first round of talks on Wednesday that there was progress in the talks and only "one or two points" were left to be covered.
On the ninth day of the pilots’ strike on Thursday, Air India managed to operate 32 domestic flights from six metros as per its contingency plan. The airline, already reeling under heavy accumulated loss running into thousands of crores, has reportedly lost approximately Rs. 140 crore during the period of the strike by pilots.
PUCL on Delhi court judgment
Meanwhile, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has criticised the recent Delhi High Court directive to the striking pilots of Air India to discontinue their agitation and resume work.
"We fail to understand as to under what law such an order can be passed. Peaceful demonstrations are part of the fundamental rights of free speech and also of the right of assembly which are guaranteed under article 19 (a) and (b) of the Constitution,’’ N. D. Pancholi, PUCL’s Delhi unit president said in a statement here.
He pointed out that any prohibition or restriction of the right of citizens to hold peaceful demonstration to express their feelings will prima facie be violative of the fundamental right to free speech. Only violent demonstrations can be restrained, he said.
"Further, strikes and lockouts are weapons in the armoury of labour and management in the process of collective bargaining all over the world. These rights have been recognized under the Industrial Disputes Act. Right to strike or lockout can only be controlled or regulated by industrial legislation, and not by courts,’’ Mr. Pancholi said.
