Airport employees call off strike
by Maya Singh

     New Delhi: The four-day old airport strike came to an end on Saturday after Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel assured the airport employees' unions that there would be no job loss for anyone due to the modernisation process. The decision to call off the strike was announced by convener of the Airport Authority of India Employees Joint Forum, MK Ghosal, at a gathering of the striking workers in the premises of the Delhi domestic airport. Patel after meeting Ghosal, Communist Party of India MP Gurudas Das Gupta, and CITU leader MK Pandhe, said that the leaders have been given assurances that there would be no victimisation of those who participated in the strike and there would be no job loss for anyone due to the modernisation process.

    "We have agreed that the stalemate which has been continuing since the last four days must come to an end. I also assured them that we are equally interested in the future of the airport authorities. They have a large role to play in the nation. We will take them in to confidence and appoint a committee which will discuss the issues and proposals of the airport authorities. I also ensure that there will be no victimisation of any employee due to the current stalemate," Patel said. The Civil Aviation Minister also gave a written guarantee to the leaders in this regard. "Pursuing to my talks they have assured us that they will take the message written by me to the employees. I am also confident that they will be able to resolve the current stalemate. Normalcy will return to all airports in the next few hours," he said.

    The strike began on Wednesday after the Centre awarded contracts to two private consortia involving overseas companies to modernise and manage the New Delhi and Mumbai airports. The bid to revamp the Delhi airport was awarded to a consortium led by India's GMR group and German airport operator Fraport on Tuesday. The Mumbai airport was awarded to a group led by India's GVK Industries Ltd. and the Airports Company of South Africa. The move to revamp the two shabby, run-down airports is seen as a sign of India's determination to boost infrastructure development to keep pace with one of the world's fastest-growing economies.

     Earlier in the day, the meeting called by the unions of airport employees to consider Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's appeal to withdraw their strike against the Government's decision to privatise the Delhi and Mumbai airports remained inconclusive. According to the General Secretary of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and member of the Central Secretariat of Communist Party of India (CPI) Gurudas Das Gupta the strike by the Airport employees would continue. Commenting on the whole issue, the Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel yesterday said that the Prime Minister had asked the airport authority employees to withdraw their strike. However, Patel added, that there will be no change in the decision of privatising the Delhi and Mumbai airports. He assured the airport employees that the privatisation did not mean that the AAI (Airport Authority of India) would be privatised and there will be no job cuts. The nation's biggest airports -- in financial hub Mumbai and New Delhi -- were the worst affected due the last three days of a walk-out called by airport workers' unions opposed to government plans to privatise the two airports. The privatisation plans are also opposed by the Communist parties, which provide crucial support to the Congress-led UPA coalition government. The parties have staunchly backed the agitation, saying they are not against modernisation but want it to be carried out by the state. Air travellers have had to bear the brunt of the strikers' anger. As maintenance staff forms a core of the protesters, the terminal in Mumbai was left strewn with empty plastic bottles, cups and paper.

    In Mumbai, the strike has also cast its spell at the cargo movement, as the employees are not doing any paperwork. An airport official said cargo operations at the domestic airport, where 350 million metric tonnes of cargo including perishable goods is handled, came to a virtual standstill resulting in a loss of 4.5 million rupees. The strike began on Wednesday after the government awarded contracts to two private consortia involving overseas companies to modernise and manage the New Delhi and Mumbai airports. The bid to revamp the Delhi airport was awarded to a consortium led by India's GMR group and German airport operator Fraport on Tuesday. The Mumbai airport was awarded to a group led by Indias GVK Industries Ltd. and the Airports Company of South Africa. The move to revamp the two shabby, run-down airports is seen as a sign of India's determination to boost infrastructure development to keep pace with one of the world's fastest-growing economies. The airports have congested waiting areas, a lack of comfortable seating, slow baggage handling and unreliable power supplies, all of which make travel a misery for India's fast-expanding middle class who increasingly take to the air for long-distance journeys. There are 23,000 employees of the state-run Airports Authority of India.

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