Flights disruptions loom, as aviation workers threaten strike

Members of the National Union of Air Transport Employees, the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals, and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, have threatened to embark on a strike action over alleged poor condition of service.

In a communique jointly issued by the unions, it was stated that the members are aggrieved and that they would not continue to render services unless the condition of service is improved.

The communiqué was signed by Deputy General Secretary, ATSSSAN, Francis Akinjole; General Secretary, NUATE, Ocheme Aba; Secretary-General, ANAP, Abdulrazaq Saidu; and Deputy General Secretary, NAAPE, Umoh Ofonime.

The groups demanded the implementation of minimum wage/consequential adjustment that had been on since April 2019 in all the aviation agencies, apart from the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology.

Read also: Aviation workers give notice of strike, shut Kaduna airport in protest against El-Rufai

According to the leaders of the unions, they have had to shoulder intense pressure from their members who have continued to clamour for a review of their conditions of service.

The communiqué read in part, ”Our unions have severally conveyed our frustration over the aforementioned issues and have engaged the agencies’ management and other government agencies involved, including the Ministry of Aviation over the years with only minimal result.

“Based on the foregoing, the unions resolved that each union should as a matter of urgency, take a decision and convey same to the appropriate authorities that this unwholesome circumstance can no longer be tolerated.

“The condition of service for NiMet has not been approved since 2003, while those of FAAN, NCAA, NAMA, and AIB have been with the commission since 2001.”

By Oluwatobi Odeyinka…

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now