Talks between Air India pilots, management fails

NEW DELHI: The talks between Air India pilots, who have decided to go on strike on March 9 in protest against delay in non-implementation of their demands including pay parity, and the management failed here today.

The Central Executive Committee (CEC) members of Indian Commercial Pilots Association ( ICPA), which represents pilots of erstwhile Indian Airlines, met the management which tried to convince them to take back their strike notice saying evacuation of Indians from Libya would be affected.

The national carrier had been operating special flights to evacuate Indians from the strife-torn north African country.

Reiterating their demands, the pilots assured the airline management that they were "fully committed to evacuating any Indian from any country going through civil unrest regardless of the status of the strike." The pilots remained firm that management should address their grievances.

The ICPA has served a 14-day strike notice, under Section 22 of the Industrial Disputes Act to airline CMD Arvind Jadhav, charging the management with having failed to address their grievances and violated agreements on issues like pay parity and better working conditions.