Disagreements over pilots’ union stall agreement.
Nine hours of talks on Friday between the management of Jet Airways and its striking pilots, grouped under the National Aviators Guild (NAG), ended without an outcome, albeit with some progress.
The management agreed to reinstate the four dismissed pilots, but with a stiff rider: dissolve the union and form an association. The condition is not acceptable to NAG. However, the two sides agreed to continue their talks in Mumbai tomorrow, to try for a settlement.
A union is recognised under the Trade Union Act and, therefore, has bargaining powers with the management, unlike an association.
A draft agreement was worked out late last night between Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam, representatives of the pilots and Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal, under which the management agreed to reinstate the sacked pilots. Speaking after the meeting, Saroj Datta, executive director of Jet, told journalists: "The talks will continue. There was no agreement with the pilots and the strike has not been called off."
In an official statement on Friday, NAG said they had achieved partial success; however, the talks being inconclusive, will resume tomorrow in Mumbai. Girish Kaushik, who led the negotiations for NAG, said: "We are close to an agreement. However, there are certain areas where there is no agreement. For instance, they are requesting us to de-register the union. They have, however, agreed to reinstate the pilots."
Meanwhile, the airline was forced to cancel 242 flights today, including 34 international ones, with over 400 of its 800-odd pilots taking mass sick leave for the fourth day.
On the progress of the talks, a senior Union labour ministry official said: “It is taking more time because both sides are looking at the meaning of every word, so that there is no problem of interpretation later on. Also, they are trying to bridge some of the differences.”
The two sides were working on various drafts that would incorporate the concerns of the two sides in consultation with the Chief Labour Commissioner (CLC), S Mukhopadhyay.
In a day of hectic developments, NAG representatives led by Girish Kaushik and the management led by Saroj Datta held a pre-lunch meeting with the CLC, who’d called both sides yesterday for a reconciliation meet. NAG representatives had stayed away yesterday, claiming they were not given adequate notice of the meeting having been advanced from the original September 14 schedule.
The meetings broke for lunch, after which the management and the pilots met without the CLC for the first time. A press conference called by NAG at the Delhi Flying Club at 3.30 p m was postponed and then cancelled, as no decision was arrived at.
Labour ministry sources said there are three legal aspects behind the pilots’ agitation. One, whether pilots can form a union. Two, whether they are defined as workmen under the Industrial Disputes Act. Three, whether they can go on strike when a reconciliation process by the government is on.
“They have the right to form a union because under the ID Act they are workmen. But they should not have gone on strike during the reconciliation talks, which goes against them,” said a senior labour ministry official.
The International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations, which is described as representing 1,00,000 professional pilots across 100 countries, has issued a statement backing the NGA stand.
