Aviation workers may go on strike over deplorable conditions of work 

By Tobi Adetunji

Aviation workers under the aegis of 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 said they will no longer tolerate the deplorable conditions its members have had to endure for the better part of the last decade.

In a joint communiqué 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, a copy of which was made available to Nigerian NewsDirect,  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.

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 aggrieved members expressed in no uncertain terms that they would not continue to render services without valid 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.”