An estimated 12,000 ground staff of Indian went on a nation-wide flash strike on Tuesday night, accusing the management of going back on its assurances to them on their demands for wage arrears and better promotional prospects.

J K Badola, general secretary of Air Corporation Employees' Union told PTI that 'all the ground staff went on a flash and indefinite strike from 2130 hours as our talks with the management have failed'.

Meanwhile, Indian declared the strike to be 'illegal'. "The strike is illegal and unlawful", said a spokesman of the Indian.

Badola said the strike affected flights in all regions including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata. He said the ground staff included check-in employees to loaders.

He also said the ACEU and the India management had been negotiating on the employees' demands under the aegis of Central Labour Commissioner.

While most of the domestic flights on Tuesday night were unaffected by the strike, the action by the ground staff is expected to hit Indian flights to Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Singapore, sources in India said.

An India spokesman said the negotiations between the two sides were on and 'we hope the employees will participate in the talks'.

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