Indian airline ground staff on strike

New Delhi: Around 12,000 ground staff workers of Indian went on a flash nation-wide flash strike on Tuesday to press for arrears and promotions.

The ground staff, security personnel and baggage handlers of the state-run carrier went off work after failure of talks between the management and employees union.

"All ground staff went on an indefinite strike from 2130 hours IST as our talks with the management have failed," J K Badola, General Secretary of the Air Corporation Employees' Union (ACEU) told PTI.

The union claimed the strike affected flights in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata.

Badola said the airline’s management had gone back on its assurance to give employees wage arrears and better promotional prospects.

The airline declared the strike "illegal" and unlawful". Indian spokesman Anil Sharma told IANS: "The matter was before the Regional Labour Commissioner and talks were on, but they chose to go strike, which is illegal. We are still interacting with the union leaders."

Sharma said the management was making efforts to resolve the strike at the earliest.