By poaching the grounded airline’s pilots, not only did the Air India management break the unions’ resistance, it also plugged a critical shortage of talent.
It’s the kind of capitulation rarely seen in an industrial dispute in the country.
Till earlier this month, Air India pilots were threatening to go on a strike if any of them was terminated amid a tussle with the management over revised pay and service conditions. Their lawyers sent a legal notice to the airline’s chief human resources officer, Suresh Dutt Tripathi, and the union mailed its chief ethics counsellor alleging violation of the Tata Code of Conduct.
But on 11 May, when pilots of the two unions—Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association and the Indian Pilots’ Guild—met, they changed their stance …
Prince leads the newsroom at The Morning Context as managing editor. A fascination with the written word has taken Prince to some of the leading newsrooms across the country, including The Economic Times, Dow Jones Newswires, Forbes India and Moneycontrol. In a career spanning 20 years, Prince has led teams, managed pages, projects and special editions, and has authored The Consolidators, published by Penguin Random House in 2017.
Managing Editor
prince@mailtmc.com
Mumbai