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.