Unrest is again brewing among airport employees with the unions threatening another bout of workers action if urgent steps were not taken to meet their 'long-pending' demands. The workers' strike against privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports paralysed airport services across India in February.
The umbrella body of the four Airports Authority of India unions, AAI Employees Joint Forum, has shot off a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel seeking his intervention in getting the AAI management implement the demands. The latter included pension and some social security schemes, restructuring of various cadres, filling up of vacant posts and revision of allowances.
"Before our patience goes out, we would request you to kindly take necessary corrective actions or else we may be driven to the brink of another industrial unrest for which the total responsibility shall not rest on us alone", the forum warned.
Leaders of the forum, which had struck work for four days in February, also alleged that there was no 'transparency' in the privatisation process for Delhi and Mumbai airports.
"The developments in the privatisation process were completed in a fast manner that it required midnight transfer of power at Delhi and Mumbai airports to the private entities.
"The OMDA (Operation, Maintenance and Development Agreement) which was executed with the private parties was kept a closely guarded secret and was not even shared with the Joint Forum," the letter said.
Opposing the transfer of staff in Delhi and Mumbai airports to the joint venture firms led by GMR and GVK groups in accordance with the OMDA, the forum leaders asserted that the employees would not work in any company other than AAI.
"We have already adopted a resolution unanimously saying we will not join any company other than where we are working, that is the AAI," forum Convenor M K Ghoshal said.
In their letter, the leaders pointed out that deliberations of the Tripartite Committee on modernisation of airports had not gathered pace as representatives of AAI and the ministry were 'hesitant' to reply to the employees' queries and were 'avoiding opening up their minds' as they did not have sufficient brief.
The committee, comprising representatives of the forum, AAI and the ministry, was set up following the strike in February this year to go into the airport modernisation plans of AAI as also the employee-related issues.
In their letter, the leaders accused the AAI management of not implementing the demands which were being raised for several months now.
They urged the civil aviation minister to act as 'an independent judge' and get the demands met and implemented or face another bout of industrial action.
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