The Bhartiya Kamgar Sena (BKS), the trade union wing of the Shiv Sena, on Monday threatened to disrupt operations at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) if employee interests are not taken care of by the bidders for Jet Airways.
BKS president Suryakant Mahadik demanded that the government intervene and pressure banks to help revive the airline and safeguard the livelihood of thousands of employees. “Till now, we have tried putting forward our demands peacefully. But if the bid is not in our favour, we will have to take the harsh route. We are aware that it will inconvenience to passengers, but it is a matter of livelihood for many,” he said.
According to Santosh Chalke, BKS general secretary, the union has around 5,000 members from the engineering, loading, commercial and security departments of Jet Airways and altogether around 12,000 members from various other aviation players who work at the Mumbai airport.
Mr. Mahadik said they are confident about their capacity to bring the airport to a halt, and that their fight is for justice for the 22,000 employees who are suffering for no fault of their own.
“We have just two demands: firstly Jet Airways should be restarted, and secondly, employees should be given their pending salaries along with a regular minimum income to ensure that the employees can afford at least two square meals a day,” he said.
The union also plans to stage a protest at the Jet Airways headquarters on Wednesday to put forward these demands.
The union claimed to be in talks with Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley as well as Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube to fulfil their demands.
“Justice can be served to the employees only by reviving the airline, as other competitors are offering them jobs at exceptionally low salaries, which is unfair. We plan on writing to the Civil Aviation Ministry as well,” the BKS chief said.