Thousands of travellers were stranded across the country’s major airports yesterday as aviation workers embarked on a strike.
The industrial action, according to them, is over alleged anti-union practices, casualisation of workers and withholding of statutory funds, including the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) by domestic airlines.
The strike, ordered by the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), in collaboration with the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), led to suspension, cancellation and rescheduling of flights by airlines. The aviation unions were backed by Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC)
At the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 in Lagos, as well as the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Terminal in Abuja, officials of the three unions in the early hours of yesterday barricaded entrances of the departure terminals, preventing the airlines from attending to passengers.
The airlines whose flight operations were worst affected included Air Peace, United Nigeria Airlines, Ibom Air, Enugu Air and Aero Contractors.
Customer Service Officers attached to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) took time to assuage angry passengers who could not undertake their flights on the affected airlines.
ATSSSAN National President, John Ogbe, attributed the strike to the expiration of consecutive 14-day, seven-day, and three-day ultimatums given the airlines on the issues in contention.
The other contentious issues are the airlines’ failure to regularise qualified casual workers and withholding more than N25 billion in statutory funds due to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and other aviation agencies.
Ogbe stated that a recent intervention meeting on the issues by the Ministry of Aviation ended without progress after the Airline Operators of Nigeria ( AON) declined to engage.
He warned that if the dispute remained unresolved, the industrial action would expand to all the remaining domestic airports nationwide starting today.
Airlines advise passengers
Air Peace, in a statement, lamented the impact of the strike on its operations.
The airline apologised to its passengers for the disruption and inconvenience caused by the ”circumstances beyond” its control.
The statement reads in part: We wish to inform our esteemed passengers and the general flying public of temporary disruptions to our flight operations arising from the picketing of our airline.
‘Passengers scheduled to travel later today(yesterday) are being contacted and provided with relevant updates as the situation evolves.
”We will continue to closely monitor developments and will provide further updates as necessary.”
United Nigeria Airlines (UNA), said it suspended 32 of its flights to protect the safety of its passengers and crew.
Spokesman for the airline, Chibuike Uloka, said UNA’s eight serviceable aircraft were fully booked before the picketing. He assured passengers that UNA would resume full operations once normalcy returned.
Also, Enugu Air said its passengers were advised to check their email, SMS and official social media platforms for updates,
The airline added it encouraged those requiring assistance on rebooking and other enquiries to contact its customer service team.
Chief Executive Officer of one of the affected carriers, who asked not to be named, called on the Federal Government to investigate the action of the labour unions.
He lamented that the strike impacted his airline’s flights out of Abuja.
He explained that their operations out of Lagos were disrupted because the unions concentrated their picketing at General Aviation Terminal (GAT).
On the cost of the strike on his airline, he said: I can’t say that now. We have to do a study and see the cost of the impact of the strike.
‘This shows that the aviation sector has a bigger problem than we think. If the unions are taking it upon themselves to picket the airlines because they are not paying five per cent, then it has a problem because the agency has means of collecting the five per cent.
‘Nigeria is a country of law, and we are law-abiding citizens. I think the Federal Government should investigate this because people are taking laws into their own hands.’
An official of one of the unions said the latest action followed an unsuccessful attempt by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, to broker peace at a meeting between the unions and airline operators on the contentious issues. According to him, the unions attended a meeting convened by the minister, but one of the airlines communicated back that it would not be available for discussions.
He said: ‘The airline has been discouraging other airlines from industrial democracy.
‘Our picketing of its counters is strategic. We have to start with the airline because it’s a major carrier in the country.
‘At present, we are only picketing their Lagos operations. We all know that most airlines depart or land in Lagos.