1/18/2015

AAI employees threaten strike over privatization move - The Times of India

Printed from

AAI employees threaten strike over privatization move

Like

Share

Tw eet

22

PTI | Jan 18, 2015, 10.42A M IST

Share

NEW DELHI: Opposing the government's airports privatization plan, Airports Authority Employees Union
(AAEU) has threatened to renew its agitation including a strike call if the move is not halted.
The AAEU, in a letter to civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju recently, has also alleged that the decision
to privatize the development, operations and management of four more airports - Chennai, Kolkata, Jaipur and
Ahmedabad - violates the Tripartite Committee recommendations, which have already been accepted by the
government long back.
The copies of the letter have also been marked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, finance minister, AAI chairman,
chief labour commissioner and the parliamentary panel for transport, culture and tourism.

A i rports A u th ori ty Em pl oy ees Un i on

(A A EU) h as th reaten ed to ren ew i ts
agi tati on i n cl u di n g a stri ke cal l i f th e m ov e
i s n ot h al ted.

READ ALSO: UPA privatization move nixed, PPP to take off at airport
"If the government does not give us a proper hearing, we shall be constrained to take to recourse to industrial action and call for a general strike in
AAI," the union said in the letter.
The decision is detrimental to the interests of not only AAI employees but also air travelling public, it said.

"The services provided at private airports come at a high price, as has been experienced with all the existing private airports where costs borne by
the air travelers are much higher in comparison to the AAI-managed airports, where quality service is equally available at a much cheaper price,"
the union said.
It may be noted here that travelling from Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bengaluru airports has become highly expensive ever since they have
gone to the private players - namely the GMR and GVK groups.
READ ALSO: Airport privatization process under review
The fresh agitation threat by the AAI employees comes following the NDA government taking a U-turn on the airport privatisation policy.

More from The Times of India

Pakistan's fourth nuclear reactor at Khushab now appears
operational 17 Jan 2015
Dense fog engulfs Delhi: 12 flights, 90 trains cancelled 18 Jan 2015

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/AAI-employees-threaten-strike-over-privatization-move/pmarticleshow/45928295.cms?prtpage=1

1/2