Air India Express HR Department Issues Charge Sheets to Protesting Cabin Crew Members

The face-off between Air India Express cabin crew members and the HR department over the strike is yet to end. Earlier, the Chief Labour Commissioner (CLC) in Delhi resolved the issue after a conciliation meeting was held between both parties. But now, after a month of settlement, the HR department has reignited the brawl.

Air India Express Issue Charge Sheets

The President of Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU), KK Vijayakumar has written a letter to the airline CEO Aloke Singh. AIXEU is a registered union, with backing from Bhartiya Majdoor Sangh (BMS). In the letter, Kumar brought attention to the charge sheet issued by the Human Resources department to those cabin crew members, who were involved in the protest.

The airline has issued the charge sheets regarding their sick reports. Kumar added in the letter that on 9th May, the issue between the airline management and union was fully settled.

On 28th May, a second meeting between AIXEU and management was convened, and it was decided that no disciplinary action would be taken against the employees related to this strike.

AIXEU has termed these charge sheets as unfair labor practices. It is unfortunate that the airline has issued a charge sheet in a matter, that has been amicably settled. It added that taking disciplinary action against the cabin crew members by pursuing charge sheets would only densify the strained industrial relations and create further unpleasant situations.

Airline Still Suffering From Cancellations

In the past month, Air India Express has canceled a lot of flights. On various routes, Air India and Vistara supported the airline by operating on its behalf. There were two reasons for these cancellations. Let’s start from the start.

On 8 May, more than 200 cabin crew members of Air India Express reported sick, as part of a mass strike. They had various demands, that the airline’s management was not ready to listen to. In response, the airline suspended 25 protesting crew members. On 9 May, the Chief Labour Commissioner intervened in the matter and asked the management of Air India Express to hold a conciliation meeting with the airline union.

The airline, which earlier refused to recognize the union sent its CHRO to the meeting. BMS was backing the cabin crew members. In the meeting, it was decided that Air India Express would take back the 25 suspended crew members, and in return, the strike would be ended. The airline assured that the issues of cabin crew members will be listened to in a phased manner.

All cabin crew members returned to service. The suspended ones were re-inducted, but the cancellations were not stopping because the airline had another issue.

This time, it messed up in the rostering department. During a shift from the old ARMS to the new CAE rostering system, the airline lost the entire details of the cabin crew members. The rostering department had to manually guide the crew members regarding their schedules.

Conclusion

The Human Resources department of Air India Express has issued a charge sheet to those cabin crew members, who were involved in the mass strike between May 8 and 10. The union of Air India Express has termed these charge sheets as unfair labor practices. At the conciliation proceedings, it was decided that no disciplinary action would be taken.

What do you think about this action from the Air India Express management? Discuss in the comment section.