Airline loaders hold peaceful demonstration in Mumbai demanding fair wages

The loaders of an airline, hired by a private firm, protest outside the company`s office in Chunnabhatti. PIC/KIRTI SURVE PARADE

In a show of defiance and determination, the loaders of a budget airline, employed through a company named Agile, held a demonstration outside the Shram Raksha Bhavan in Chunabhatti, Mumbai. The protest was against under-payment by the company and lack of proper wage increase despite prior discussions with the management.

Currently, the average salary of each loader is Rs 18,000 per month. The employees, along with their unions, had demanded a hike of Rs 4,000 to raise the salary to Rs 22,000. However, the employees claim that their salary was increased only by Rs 2,000, instead of the earlier decided amount.

"We have had talks with them [the management] since last year about the increase in salary, but they paid no heed to what we ask for. We work more than the regulated eight hours and don't get paid for the overtime either," said a loader employed by Agile, requesting anonymity of name.

The employee further alleged that they are not only not receiving the increase in wage, but are also seeing mysterious pay cuts every month.

"I had a salary deduction of Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 over the past few months. When we ask our management what the cut was for, they ask us to take our issues up to the Delhi office," added the worker.

Around 300-400 of the loaders were present during the demonstration. According to employees, Agile has employed 2,000 loaders for Indigo.

"We did not call all the employees because they have to maintain the shifts at the airport. If we lack in any way, it is the passengers who suffer with delays or cancellations, and we don't want that happening," said another employee explaining why all the entire staff was not present for the demonstration.

They further alleged that the increments paid to them also vary - an employee who has been working for years has received a mere hike of Rs 1,700 to Rs 2,200, while a newly recruited staffer is being given an increment of Rs 4,000.

The employees have also raised concerns about the following issues:

-The management does not have the paid sick leave (PSL) data of the past two years.

-They also claim that appointment letters of the employees who are members of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have been put on hold.

-The laoders have also made mentally harassment allegations over various issues, including not being paid overtime wages.

The representatives of the employees, along with MNS members, held a meeting on Wednesday with the company's management. The meeting was attended by Santosh Dhuri, Deepak Gaikwad, and Shailesh Patankar from MNS and Arvind Sawant from the Bharatiya Kamgar Sena (BKS). Agile's management stated in the meeting that their senior officials from Delhi would be giving the best possible solution over the issues raised by the employees by June 26.

The workers' unions said that if no action is taken by June 25, they will move ahead with "the strictest possible measures".

The Central Labour Commissioner's office in Mumbai has not yet given its response on the issue.