[Marxistindia] Letter to PM - Resolve AIESL Workers' Issues, Uphold Passenger Safety

[news from the cpi(m)]

May 23, 2026

 

Press Release

 

M. A. Baby, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has
written a letter today to the Prime Minister, seeking the PM's intervention
to resolve the issue of AIESL workers and uphold passenger safety

 

We are herewith releasing the text of the letter for publication. 

 

Muralidharan

(For CPI(M) Central Committee Office)

 

 

Shri. Narendra Modi,

Honourable Prime Minister

Government of India

New Delhi

 

Modiji,

 

Resolve the issue of AIESL workers and uphold passenger safety

 

This letter is to apprise you about the continuing sit-in of the workers in
front of the MRO facilities of a former Air India subsidiary, AIESL and now
a PSU under the Ministry of Civil Aviation in Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai,
Kolkata and Nagpur for the last eight days against the brazen anti-worker
policies of the management. Air India Engineering Services Limited (AIESL)
operates major Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facilities across
India servicing narrow-body aircraft (Airbus A320 family, Boeing 737) and
wide-body aircraft (Boeing 777, 747 and 787 Dreamliner) for domestic and
international flights. Thousands of passengers depend daily on the technical
expertise and labour of these workers for safe flight operations. In an
alarming development an Air India aircraft from Bengaluru (AI 2802) had to
undertake an emergency landing at IGI Airport in Delhi following suspicion
of fire in one of the engines yesterday. Air India and many other carriers
are dependent upon the MRO facilities of AIESL for their operations. In fact
this issue of air safety was brought to the attention of the Minister for
Civil Aviation by Shri. John Brittas MP by a separate letter seeking urgent
intervention. 

 

May I now invite your attention to some of the legitimate demands of the
workers. 

 

1) Firstly while clause 7 of the draft model standing orders released by the
Government of India on 8th May 2026 clearly states that fixed term workers
should receive wages, allowances and benefits not less than permanent
workers performing similar work, the workers in AIESL - from engineers to
helpers recruited under fixed-term employment - are being paid less than
one-third of the salary and benefits of their regular counterparts.

 

2) The exploitation assumes even more alarming dimensions as the engineers
and technicians maintaining aircraft safety are compelled to work 12 to 14
hours 

a day while being paid a meagre overtime rate of around Rs 85/- per hour.
This is in blatant violation of the recently notified labour code provisions
under which overtime work beyond the prescribed working hours must be
compensated at double the ordinary wage rate.

 

3) Instead of addressing the legitimate grievances of the workers, including
equal pay for equal work, regularisation, decent working conditions and fair
overtime compensation, the management has resorted to intimidation and
victimisation. When representatives of the workers met the management to
discuss these issues, four union representatives were served termination
notices. The ongoing mass sit-in is precisely against this vindictive
dismissal and for the settlement of their justified demands.

 

The AIESL management is not even implementing the directives of the Deputy
Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), Nagpur with regard to the present
industrial dispute. The Dy. CLC (c) has rightly opined that the termination
of worker representatives is anticipated to further widen the rift. Her
letter adds that the resignation can't be denied within the terms of
appointment for the four aggrieved employees and ends by warning that her
office would be compelled to take action against the AIESL management. 

 

In conclusion I would request your office to immediately intervene in this
matter considering both the legitimate demands of the workers as well as the
larger issue of safety of air passengers.

 

Thanking you,

 

 

M. A. Baby

(General Secretary)

 

 

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