Airport staff may call off strike

Following Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's assurance that jobs of Airport Authority of India (AAI) employees at Delhi and Mumbai airports will be protected, the joint federation of the employees unions has agreed to consider calling off the strike.

"The prime minister has made an appeal to call off the strike; we are meeting to consider the issue very seriously," MK Goshal, convenor of All India AAI Employees' Joint federation, told reporters after a 90-minute meeting with the prime minister.

However, according to sources, Singh told the employees categorically that the decision to privatise and modernise the Delhi and Mumbai airports would not be called off.

He said this to the union leaders after they made a request to adopt the alternative plan submitted to the government for developing the two airports.

The Left Front, however, appeared determined to continue with the agitation. Striking a defiant note in face of the Delhi High Court order restraining the agitating airport employees from impeding the functioning of airports, All India Trade Union Congress leader Gurudas Dasgupta said: "We'll not obey any court orders."

The prime minister had invited the employee forum for discussions on the strike along with Aviation Minister Praful Patel.

After the meeting, Patel said the prime minister had assured the employees that the Airport Authority of India was not being privatised, as alleged by the employees joint forum. He said the government had also said that no AAI employee would lose their job.

It was pointed out that in the first three years, all AAI employees at the two airports would be employed by the joint venture.

Both GMR-Fraport and GVK-South African Airports consortium have assured the government that 60 per cent of the employees at the two airports would be absorbed by them after the initial three-year period. The rest could go back to AAI.

On the issue of the impact on AAI's financials, the prime minister is believed to have assured the union leaders that the decision to privatise and modernise the two airports could lead to an increase in revenues.

"It is true that AAI has reserves. But the whole of it cannot be used for just developing the two airports. In fact, the additional revenue from the two airports can be pumped in to develop other airports. There will be an increase in revenue from other sources as well," Patel said.

The prime minister agreed to the employees' demand for a committee, with representation from the civil aviation ministry, AAI management and employees, to decide on the thorny issues related to privatisation.

"We want to engage with the employees on a continuous basis. We will also talk to the two companies to ensure that more employees are absorbed," said Patel.

Meanwhile, passenger amenities continued to be hard hit at various airports as the strike entered its third day today. Flights, however, operated as normal.

A scuffle broke out between AAI employees and the police in Delhi. The protestors claimed buses bringing employees to the airport were being diverted elsewhere and blocked the road leading to the airport for a short while. Extra police and paramilitary forces were deployed around the airport. The situation was soon brought under control.

In Mumbai, the employees continued their demonstration in front of the terminal. However, the number of agitationists dwindled today.