NEW DELHI: Employees of the state-owned airline, Indian, called off their three-day-old, nationwide strike on Thursday after an understanding with the Government on payment of arrears and the contentious issue of career prospects.

Emerging from three-hour talks here, Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla told reporters that all issues, including on payment of Rs. 267-crore arrears since January 1, 2000 and minor adjustments in promotional prospects after the merger of Indian with Air India in July, were settled amicably. He said the employees assured the Ministry that they would return to work immediately.

The management would put all finer points on paper, and an agreement with the employees was being signed. To a query, Mr. Chawla said the agreement with the Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU) would not put any additional financial burden on the Government. The arrears would be paid in instalments over 18 months to about 12,000 employees.

ACEU general secretary J. K. Badola said talks with the management reached a stalemate earlier this week over the issues of career progression and parity of employees after merger with Air India. Now "all these issues have been sorted out amicably and we are satisfied with the outcome of the talks.''

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