Strike called off; 'Indian' takes to the skies again

New Delhi, June 14 (UNI) The two-day ordeal for the 'Indian' passengers ended today with more than 12,000 employees of the state-owned carrier calling off their strike after an agreement with the airline management.

''The strike has been called off and the issues amicably settled,'' Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla said after a three-hour meeting between the Government, the management and the agitating employees.

The Rs 267 crore wage arrear package that the Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU) had rejected before going on strike had now been accepted and will be paid in 18 months.

The minor issue of career progression has also been amicably settled, the Civil Aviation Ministry said.

The Government would also shortly revoke suspension notices served on 23 striking employees yesterday.

The airline also informed its passengers that all flights will resume in a few hours.

The ACEU had gone on a flash strike on Tuesday night after their talks with the management on wage arrears and career promotion broke down.

The strike caused chaos at all major airports across the country with a large number of flights being cancelled or delayed, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

Only 127 out of 192 scheduled flights took off today.

As the employees went on a flash strike without any notice, the Government yesterday gave an ultimatum to them to return to work by the same evening or face suspension. It also threatened to withdraw the arrear package and served suspension notices on 23 employees.

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said the employees had agreed to the Rs 267 crore arrear package offered to them but suddenly walked out of the talks.

The Union, however, accused the Government of going back on its promise of giving arrears since 1997 and promotional parity with Air India employees post-merger.

In a development late last night, Delhi High Court declared the strike illegal and asked the striking employees to resume duty immediately.

The Chief Labour Commissioner also declared the strike illegal.

Undeterred by their rulings and the suspension threat, the employees continued with their strike today before the agreement was finally reached.

UNI