SpiceJet workers fear job loss, protest at Mumbai airport – Times of India

MUMBAI: SpiceJet ground staff had a run in with the airline management at the Mumbai airport on Thursday night over fears of job loss. The ruckus began after the airline “uncharacteristically” asked 64 workers to surrender their airport entry pass at the end of their shift.
A video clip shot by a Spicejet worker shows ground staff waiting inside the terminal 2 of Mumbai airport. “We have been detained at the airport for over 12 hours now. Our duty hours are over, but they aren’t letting us leave the premises. They wanted us to surrender our airport entry passes, but we have decided not to,” says the worker in the video. The workers were at the airport from about 2 pm to 1 am the next day. “There are no buses, trains now at this hour. How will we reach home. Some of us live in far off places like Ambernath. If we meet with an accident with thr Spicejet duty manager take responsibility?,” said an employee in another clip.
A Spicejet spokesperson said: “No ground staff has been removed from service. Anything being said to this effect is an attempt to mislead and misinform the media, is wrong and is denied. As per government directive, airport staff has to submit their Aerodrome Entry Permit (AEP) after the end of their duty shift. Some staff objected to this in Mumbai last evening. However, they were told that no relaxation whatsoever would be given and rules have to be adhered to”.
Arvind Sawant, president of Shiv Sena union Bharatiya Kamgar Sena (BKS), a recognised union of SpiceJet ground handling staff countered that collecting AEP from staff after the end of their duty shift wasn’t a practice that Spicejet followed in the past ten years.
“There might be a rule in place which demands that workers surrender their AEP after the end of their shift. But Spicejet has never followed that norm in the past 10-15 years, they have never asked ground staff, workers to surrender their AEP. But on Thursday evening, they suddenly asked 64 workers to surrender their AEP. These are the workers whose contract with Spicejet expired on May 31 and the airline did not renew it. ”
Sawant said that conciliatory proceedings are currently on between the airline management and the union before the Labour Commissioner and it was unjust on part of the airline to sack workers when the talks are still on. “These 64 workers have been working for Spicejet for over ten years now on fixed term contract. They cannot be sacked overnight. We understand that the airline industry is in financial difficulty due to the pandemic and we will support the airline. We are willing to sacrifice other things, but not the job,” said Sawant.
In April, BKS had served a strike notice to Spicejet over concerns that the airline would sack workers to cut costs. Following the notice, the airline management and union began conciliatory meetings.
Sources had told TOI that Spicejet had planned to lay off 300 out of 590 staff, comprising largely loaders and drivers. These were workers who have been employed for 3 to 15 years on fixed-term contract to carry out ground handling work like loading/unloading cargo, baggage, transporting passengers between terminal and aircraft etc.
Spicejet in an official statement to the TOI had said that Covid second wave had “severely impacted passenger demand and flight operations and in view of the massive uncertainty of demand SpiceJet has outsourced its partial ground operations at the Mumbai airport to CelebiNAS from May 1.” As part of the arrangement, CelebiNAS will have a recruitment drive to absorb maximum support staff from SpiceJet to protect employees’ interest,’’ the spokesperson said.