New Delhi:Eleven striking
pilots of Air India on Sunday went on an indefinite hunger-strike seeking the
reinstatement of 101 sacked pilots.
"Our protest is for the reinstatement of
our sacked colleagues and for the recognition of our union," Rohit Kapahi
of the Indian Pilots Guild, which has been de-recognized by the government,
told IANS.
"We want to bring the strike to an end
as soon as possible," added Kapahi, who is one of the 101 pilots dismissed
from service for going on strike.
The
hunger strikers are seated on a stage near Jantar Mantar observatory, in the
heart of the city.
Around
440 pilots struck work on May 8 against the management's move to train pilots
from the erstwhile Indian Airlines in the merged entity on the
soon-to-be-inducted Boeing-787 Dreamliner.
"The
management has accused some pilots of being 'ransom terrorists' and terminated
people who have clean records," said Hari Shankar, another pilot.
Added
a senior commander: "We do care about passengers. We have been flying for
the past 18 months with delayed salaries to avoid inconvenience to them but now
everything is out of our control."
Meanwhile,
in a bid to end the deadlock, the government has been giving feelers to the
pilots to end the strike.
Civil
Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on June 6 invited the pilots to resume work, after
which, he said, the sacked pilots will be reinstated on a case-to-case basis.
The
strike on Sunday entered its 48th day. It has reportedly caused a revenue loss
of Rs 530 crore.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/air-india-pilots-go-on-indefinite-hungerstrike/267657-7.html
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