Thousands of striking Indian airport workers have ended their three-day-old walkout called to protest the privatization of India's two largest airports.
Union leader M. K. Ghoshal said on Saturday that the strikers ended their walkout after getting acceptable assurances from the government. Civil Aviation Minister Patel said the strikers will continue to be employed after the airports are privatized.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met with workers Friday and told them they would not lose their jobs, despite government plans to privatize airports in New Delhi and Bombay, also known as Mumbai. The strike began Wednesday after the government awarded contracts to two private consortia involving overseas companies to modernize and manage the airports. Indian police and air force personnel were called in during the week to keep major airports running, and most passenger flights kept operating, though with minor delays. More from our Kolkata stringer :
