Mumbai: Air India staff protest notice asking them to vacate their quarters
India Today
Air India employees protested the eviction notice issued by the Adani group’s Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), saying they want to continue their accommodation till retirement or an alternate arrangement should be made.
Air India employees have refused to vacate flats after privatisation saying they want to continue their accommodation till retirement or an alternate arrangement should be made.
George Abraham of Aviation Industry Employees Guild, an AI union, said that there are 950 families in the colony and 80 percent of tenants are employees of Air India Airport Services Limited and Air India Engineering services limited, adding that these two entities are public sector units and not privatised.
Last October, AI had instructed staff residing in its staff quarters to submit an undertaking stating that they will vacate the quarters within six months of AI privatisation, to which the employee unions responded by issuing a strike notice and conciliation proceedings are currently on.
Earlier this week, the unions said they will move to the high court over eviction.
Recently, the Adani group’s Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) issued a notice to Air India asking it to surrender airport land not used for “core airline functions”.
The land in question was leased by the government-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) to Air India (AI) decades ago. The lease expired in 1990.
Notably, the land not used for core functions means the 310-acre land in Kalina which houses Air India’s four staff colonies with 1,600 flats. The notice, served on March 11, gave Air India 45 days to take action.
