Air India on Thursday attempted to placate its agitated employees by assuring them that there would be no lay-offs in the airline. However, this didn’t cut ice with workers’ unions demanding that the airline withdraw its controversial order on compulsory “leave without pay” of up to five years as it amounted to the loss of full salary.
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“Unlike other carriers which have laid off large number of their employees, no employee of Air India will be laid off,” said a post on Air India’s Twitter handle.
A forum of various employees’ unions rejected this announcement as “an eyewash”.
“It is not a ‘lay-off’ but it is a compulsory leave without pay, which is merely a lay-off without legally due payments,” the Air India Joint Action Forum of Unions responded to Air India on Twitter.
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Air India’s employees are angry with the airline’s management and the government after an administrative order was issued last week, which said that the Chairman and Managing Director of the carrier had been authorised to send employees on mandatory leave without pay from six months to two years, extendable upto five years.
A week later, Air India notified an empowered committee for ‘identification of redundant/ surplus manpower resources’. On Tuesday, Air India pilots received only 25% of their monthly emoluments as the airline decided to implement pay cuts with retrospective effect from April 1.
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Air India attempted to explain its decision to implement salary cuts.
“There has been no reduction in the Basic Pay, DA (dearness allowance) and HRA (house rent allowance) of any category of employees. The rationalisation of allowances had to be implemented on account of the difficult financial condition of the airline that has been exacerbated by COVID-19,” the airline explained further in the same tweet.
It added that pay cuts would be “reviewed” once flight operations reach pre-COVID-19 levels and the airline’s financial position improves.
