Just a few days back, an Air India aircraft crashed in Mangalore killing almost everyone on board. This was a time for the airlines to introspect and try to understand the reason for the crash and improve the safety of its services. But unfortunately, instead of doing so, its unions went on strike for a flimsy reason and virtually put a stop to the airlines operations today.

Many flights were cancelled and thousands of passengers were inconvenienced. The Govt has made the usual noises, promising to take action against the unions. The Delhi High Court has in the meanwhile, declared the strike illegal. At the time of writing this post, 15 employees were sacked and the unions called off the strike and hopefull normalcy will be restored by tomorrow.

But the incident raises an issue - about strikes by Govt. employees. This is not the first time Air India employees have gone on strike. This is also not the first Govt. agency to go on strike. Strikes by bankers are common. And in every case, the sufferers are the common people - the taxpayers, whose tax pays for the salaries of these people.

In earlier times, industries were run by despotic bosses and therefore Governments world over, allowed for unions, so that the rights of workers were protected. Going on strike is a last option for workers to force the management to listen to their grievances. It is meant to highlight attention to the exploitation of workers by unscrupulous management.

But unfortunately, in India this democratic right has been grossly misused. Govt. employees, it is well-known, care a damn for customers. They get their salary packets, regular dearness allowance hikes and umpteen facilities for doing the minimum of work. Yet every six months, unions go on sudden strikes asking for more. Look at a similar scenario in the private sector - here, employees get paye hike based on performance and strikes are not tolerated, because these companies pay importance to the customer first.

It is sad that the democratic right to strike has been abused by unions, comprised of good for nothing people, who do no ueful work and are backed by politicians. A few union leaders force employees to go on strike, inconveniencing the public.

Should unions be allowed to get away with such blackmail tactics time and again?Police personnel and electricity board employees are not allowed to go on strike. Shouldn't the same policy be applicable for all public services? Isn't it time to put an end to the menace of strikes, which affects so many people?

Please share your views friends. Should public service employees be stopped from going on strike? Is their democratic right to strike importantor the convenience of millions of people who pay their salaries important? Your opinions are invited!