Air India’s narrow-body pilots union ICPA has decided to conduct a secret ballot to take a call on whether its members should strike work or press for insolvency proceedings against the company in the wake of non-payment of salary dues by the company, a source said.
In a communication to its members on Tuesday, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) said that “in spite of several requests to clear our illegally withheld 25 per cent dues, there seems to be no intent to clear the dues immediately... It has been decoded by the Central Executive Committee (CEC) to conduct a secret ballot, as per the constitution of the ICPA, to make a decision between strike or NCLT to safeguard our interest.”
The grouping represents nearly 800 Air India pilots who fly narrow-body planes.
The ICPA decision came on the day the ministerial panel approved the Expression of Interest (EoI) as well as the share-purchase agreement for Air India’s privatisation, as per an official.
Late last year, the Association had written to the minister of state for civil aviation Hardeep singh Puri asking the government to clear their legitimate dues without any further delay.
In a warning, the grouping had said, “Our patience is running thin and we are in no position to continue working with uncertainty looming large at Air India.”
