AICCTU has written to the Union Civil Aviation Minister on may 22 demanding urgent intervention for the immediate reinstatement of four dismissed union representatives of Air India Engineering Services Limited workers, withdrawal of all victimisation measures, and resolution of the workers’ just demands.
Around 2000 AIESL workers, from engineers to helpers, are employed under fixed-term employment while performing the same duties as permanent workers in the crucial aircraft maintenance and repair operations across India. AICCTU said these workers are being forced to work in slave-like conditions, paid less than one-third of the salary and benefits given to regular workers, and denied regular increments, social security, medical facilities and career progression even after 8 to 12 years of continuous work.
The union said workers are being compelled to work for 12 to 14 hours a day under extreme workload, while being paid a meagre overtime rate of around Rs 85 per hour. This is a blatant violation of labour rights, human dignity and the legal provisions requiring overtime beyond prescribed working hours to be paid at double the ordinary wage rate.
Instead of addressing the legitimate demands of equal pay for equal work, regularisation of long-serving fixed-term workers, decent working conditions and fair overtime compensation, the AIESL management has dismissed four union representatives. AICCTU condemned this as a brazen attack on the constitutional right to form a union, negotiate and collectively bargain.
The union also warned that the management’s move to replace experienced fixed-term engineers and technicians with trainees and retired personnel is reckless and directly endangers aviation safety. Such anti-worker policies not only attack workers’ rights but also put millions of passengers at risk.
AIESL workers are currently sitting in protest in front of MRO facilities in Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and Nagpur. AICCTU has expressed full solidarity with the struggling workers and called upon the Civil Aviation Ministry to immediately intervene, reinstate the dismissed union representatives, withdraw all illegal victimisation measures and ensure justice for the workers.
