Air India Express passengers across India were taken by surprise on May 8 when the service provider abruptly cancelled scores of scheduled flights without due notice. The strike by a section of AIX cabin crew resulted in the cancellation of more than 170 flights. In this podcast, Girish Chandra Arya, All India Secretary of Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), highlights the reasons that drove the employees to take extreme measures.
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Speaker 1: Kind attention passengers. Your air India Express flight from Tru
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Speaker 1: Anantapur to Sharjah has been canceled. We regret the inconvenience.
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Speaker 2: Passengers of the Air India Express across the country were
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Speaker 2: taken by surprise on May 8th and ninth when the
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Speaker 2: service provider abruptly canceled scores of scheduled flights without due notice, women,
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Speaker 2: Children and elderly were left stranded in airports for hours
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Speaker 2: at a stretch as authorities of the Tata owned airline
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Speaker 2: tried to make sense of the confusion.
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Speaker 2: So what led to this unexpected emergency cabin crew members
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Speaker 2: of the Air India Express began calling in sick from
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Speaker 2: Tuesday night leading to a severe shortage of staff. It
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Speaker 2: was apparently a form of protest against the airline's new
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Speaker 2: management policies.
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Speaker 2: Hi, you're listening to on Manorama Explainer podcast newsbreak, a
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Speaker 2: weekly show that breaks down news in a clutter free manner.
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Speaker 2: This is Harita Benjamin and today we are here to
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Speaker 2: discuss why the Air India Express crew members had to
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Speaker 2: go on a strike risking their jobs.
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Speaker 2: Today we have with us mister Garish Chandra Arya, all
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Speaker 2: India Secretary of the Bia Mazur sang which is B
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Speaker 2: MS an affiliate of the RSS. He was part of
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Speaker 2: the reconciliation meeting organized between the cabin crew representatives and
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Speaker 2: the airline management at the office of the chief labor
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Speaker 2: commissioner in New Delhi on May 9th.
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Speaker 2: So Mr Rees, how did the meeting go? Could you
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Speaker 2: tell us about the decisions you arrived at during the
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Speaker 2: meeting with the airline management?
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Speaker 2: He ever Commissioner Central
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Speaker 2: called the cancellation
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Speaker 2: over the issue of air India Express meeting went on
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Speaker 2: five hours continuously
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Speaker 2: and the issue was ultimately resolved in a very amicable
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Speaker 2: manner after the action of the union management terminated 25
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Speaker 2: crew members in the action. So our issues on which
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Speaker 2: this is
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Speaker 2: no longer this
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Speaker 2: but discussed one by one.
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Speaker 2: Management assured that all the issues will be taken up
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Speaker 2: and will be resolved
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Speaker 2: and the terminated crew members will be reinstated immediately.
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Speaker 2: And we have also given commitment that our all crew
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Speaker 2: members will join immediately.
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Speaker 2: Right. Uh So could you please elaborate on the chief
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Speaker 2: concerns which were raised by the cabin crew? What were
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Speaker 2: the solutions offered by the management for these issues? Basically
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Speaker 2: Air India Express
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Speaker 2: bazi part of Air India
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Speaker 2: and it was running very effectively and in profit.
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Speaker 2: I'm current merging in data,
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Speaker 2: Air India Express Mein Airasia
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Speaker 2: which is loss making company.
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Speaker 2: The crew members of Airasia are junior
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Speaker 2: and crew members of Air India Express are seniors. So
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Speaker 2: any type of humiliation was created, seniors were forced to
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Speaker 2: report junior,
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Speaker 2: their allowances were curtailed. Their room sharing was new issue
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Speaker 2: for them. All the facilities they curtailed the allowances they curtailed.
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Speaker 2: So I argue over there
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Speaker 2: that the merger process has some conditions
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Speaker 2: and four conditions are very
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Speaker 2: essential and mandatory. One is job security. Second is base security.
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Speaker 2: Third is social security.
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Speaker 2: The fourth one is seniority maintain and all the components
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Speaker 2: have been disturbed after mergers. So every crew member was
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Speaker 2: feeling that management is forcing them
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Speaker 2: to put the formation
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Speaker 2: by creating such type of
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Speaker 2: pumps,
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Speaker 2: right? Uh So now you've listed a number of issues
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Speaker 2: with respect to seniority allowance, room sharing and so forth
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Speaker 2: in a letter sent to N Chandra Shekhar, the chairman
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Speaker 2: of Tata Group in April, the Air India Express Employees
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Speaker 2: Union had highlighted these grievances. Uh The letter also mentioned
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Speaker 2: a lack of equality in the treatment of employees with
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Speaker 2: internal job postings being filled by external candidates by passing
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Speaker 2: qualified internal candidates. What was the management's response when you
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Speaker 2: raise these issues? Then
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Speaker 2: actually on 26th of May with April, uh our union
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Speaker 2: wrote a letter to chairman, ok, mentioning all the issues
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Speaker 2: and grievances
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Speaker 2: and hardships.
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Speaker 2: The chairman sent that letter to Air India Express management
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Speaker 2: despite the resolving our issue, they threatened our union
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Speaker 2: leaders. Then we all the crew sent a mail to
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Speaker 2: ethics committee because they told that this problem is for you.
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Speaker 2: 45 people, other crews are comfortable with us, sir. So
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Speaker 2: all the crew have reported that uh this is this
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Speaker 2: decision is also
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Speaker 2: and we are with union. After 23 days, we gave
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Speaker 2: a reminder to chairman
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Speaker 2: but there was no response earlier. Also
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Speaker 2: in change of service conditions. We raise the issue
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Speaker 2: in before of, before RC Regional Labor Commission Delhi.
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Speaker 2: He has advised management
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Speaker 2: that you are violating
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Speaker 2: article 33 of Industrial Dispute Act 1948. Even though they
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Speaker 2: did not respond to IC ILC has issued a show
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Speaker 2: cause notice to management. So this issue did not emerge.
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Speaker 2: Oh, suddenly. So uh what happened after this notice was issued?
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Speaker 2: How did the management respond management to reply in a
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Speaker 2: vague manner?
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Speaker 2: Correct. They don't have any intention to resolve. Moreover, they
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Speaker 2: were not considering our union as a legal entity. They
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Speaker 2: say if you want to meet us in individual capacity,
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Speaker 2: you are welcome,
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Speaker 2: not every time but as union, we will not entertain
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Speaker 2: you illegitimately mentioned in their appointment letter that you will
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Speaker 2: not participate in any union activity.
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Speaker 2: It is just
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Speaker 2: violation of constitution
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Speaker 2: and every worker has its constitutional right to form a
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Speaker 2: trade union
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Speaker 2: to address issues of the members
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Speaker 2: and nobody can deny from that right.
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Speaker 2: Deb Deb Act 1926
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Speaker 2: is allowed by the Constitution of India and our union
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Speaker 2: is very much registered under trade union Act 1926.
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Speaker 2: Ok. And the management has provided us our union office
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Speaker 2: with us
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Speaker 2: protected work category.
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Speaker 2: So protected workmen falls under the category of
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Speaker 2: two years of industrial disorder 1948 47.
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Speaker 2: So we are very much legitimate
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Speaker 2: and they do not offer beers and members, but they
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Speaker 2: are denying
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Speaker 2: this is just to, we live in democratic system but
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Speaker 2: to data management,
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Speaker 2: unfortunately, we having like
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Speaker 2: dictatorship,
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Speaker 2: the flash strike, uh, inconvenienced hundreds of passengers across the
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Speaker 2: country over the past two days. Right. Uh, the people
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Speaker 2: including women, Children and elderly were stranded in airports for
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Speaker 2: hours as a result of the strike, what persuaded you
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Speaker 2: to choose this mode of protest? Uh Do you think
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Speaker 2: you could have protested in some other manner? So day
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Speaker 2: by day, pressure of management and uh discrimination and victimization
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Speaker 2: was going on.
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Speaker 2: So I gave one example in the meeting yesterday
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Speaker 2: that in pressure cooker
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Speaker 2: pressure was mounting, right? And we tried to release that
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Speaker 2: pressure but management could not come forward to release the pressure.
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Speaker 2: But so that this is 32,
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Speaker 2: right. First,
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Speaker 2: all crew decided that we will report sick. So it
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Speaker 2: it was not consented action, it was ex tempo. Otherwise
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Speaker 2: we have, we have tried a lot as I told
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Speaker 2: you earlier that we have raised dispute
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Speaker 2: in RSP in the month of uh in September, but
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Speaker 2: management took it very light slightly straight. We have
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Speaker 2: apologized,
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Speaker 2: we have given our apology on behalf of crew,
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Speaker 2: the
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Speaker 2: inconvenience caused by us to the valuable customers, but it
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Speaker 2: was under compulsion. And uh we have assured management also
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Speaker 2: being hati Mousa a national union nation. So we believe
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Speaker 2: in responsive corporation.
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Speaker 2: So we have a short management that you disturb the
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Speaker 2: system of our union. We acted in reaction you have
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Speaker 2: terminated our crew. So now everything has been settled. So
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Speaker 2: we will
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Speaker 2: try to maintain harmonious
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Speaker 2: industry relation you had mentioned uh some of the merger
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Speaker 2: conditions earlier, right? Uh like job security, social security seniority,
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Speaker 2: uh etcetera. So if the management does not meet these
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Speaker 2: conditions which were committed yesterday, in the meeting, what is
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Speaker 2: your way forward as a union? So we will sit
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Speaker 2: in front of uh chief level commissioner center. OK. And
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Speaker 2: we will meet uh a and minister also on this
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Speaker 2: issue because uh
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Speaker 2: whole system has been energized by this
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Speaker 2: issue. So everybody is concerned
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Speaker 2: and we don't want to cause any disturbance in the
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Speaker 2: system and particularly for passenger. That's why we amicably settled
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Speaker 2: issue yesterday.
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Speaker 2: If we this issue was not settled yesterday, we have
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Speaker 2: so many pilots from other airlines. So many crew members
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Speaker 2: from other airlines and data, airlines have approached us to
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Speaker 2: join this education,
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Speaker 2: right? If you, it could not be settled yesterday.
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Speaker 2: So today
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Speaker 2: this situation you cannot I image it right. It would
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Speaker 2: have escalated 300. Uh it was fire yesterday,
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Speaker 2: it was fire today. It would be the blast, right?
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Speaker 2: So I'm glad that you've reached an amicable settlement at
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Speaker 2: the Air India Express. Uh We really hope that the
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Speaker 2: stalemate ends soon and things move forward in your direction.
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Speaker 2: Uh Thank you so much for joining us today, Mr Rees.
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Speaker 2: That's a wrap of today's episode of On Man Nomas
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Speaker 2: news break and explain a podcast produced by Harita Benjamin
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