FG goes tough against Aviation workers, says union strike now prohibited

…Criminalises strike by workers in Aviation sector

…No matter how aggrieved, no one is permitted to strike – Sirika

…Desist, it is no longer allowed by Govt – Minister warns

…Says Civil Aviation Act (2022) assented to by Buhari will be fully invoked

The Federal Government has declared firmly it will resort to stern action against Aviation workers that on any occasion embark on strike or riot, disrupting aviation activities.

The Federal Government issued the warning following the industrial action staged by Aviation workers under such unions as the National Union of Air Transport Employees and the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, which embarked on an industrial action disrupting air travels.

The industrial action may have disrupted political activities, coming at a time when political rallies are on the heat with heavy travels across the Country for campaigns.

The Federal Government vowed to invoke certain legal instruments against the workers, whose industrial action halted inbound and outbound flight operations on Monday.

The Federal Government on Wednesday apologising to air travellers over the industrial action, vowed to enforce fully, the section of the Civil Aviation Act (2022), disallowing aviation employees from embarking on strikes or riots in the future.

On Monday, local and international flights were disrupted for several hours as workers under the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company declared a warning strike over poor pay.

The aggrieved employees had earlier issued a five-day strike notice to the NAHCO management.

They requested, among other things, 100 per cent increment in pay following the general upward review of ground handling changes in the sector.

The NAHCO management had approached the court to prevent the looming industrial action, against which the workers withdrew their services by 12:00am Monday, leaving hundreds of air travellers and airlines stranded, a development that crippled both international and domestic travels.

The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, speaking to State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday, said there are other ways the workers could channel issues when they arise, stating that “they are not permitted to go on strike.”

He described the industrial action as “wrong, inhumane and against the law,”  vowing to enforce the relevant sections of the Civil Aviation Act 2022 to prevent future disruptions.

He mentioned that the piece of legislation by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022 prohibits industrial action and riots of such scale in the aviation sector.

“First, we apologise to our teeming passengers in this difficult moment. There are other ways of channeling issues when they arise but they are not permitted to go on strike because aviation is an essential service.

“This is very important to the travelling public. First, we apologise to them, our teeming passengers in this difficult moment.

“Second, this will not happen in the future by the grace of God. And the reason is simple; aviation is an essential service. The Act has been assented to by Mr. President, so strikes and riots around our airports are prohibited by the laws of the land.

“Now that we have the Act in place and assented to by Mr President and passed by the National Assembly, we will deal with it according to the law,” he said.

“We will ensure no essential service is being disrupted by anybody no matter how aggrieved. There are other channels of channeling issues when they arise but they are not permitted to go on strike because aviation is an essential service and is by the law of the land now.

“I will give you an example, there was an airline that had to return to base because it couldn’t land. Imagine if there was a patient on that aircraft. Imagine somebody attending to a very serious issue or matter at hand or business or a student trying to catch up with an exam and then because of somebody who is aggrieved some other person will die.

“Government will no longer allow that. So it’s in the law of the land, check the Civil Aviation Act, it’s been assented to and it’s going to take place soon. In fact now, from today we will not allow that.

“As a government, our ears are always open, the government is open to listening to any grievances and there are procedures for dealing with this kind of grievances. They should please desist from this. It is wrong. It is inhumane. It is not allowed. It is not permitted and we will not be permitted any longer,” the Minister said.