Nigerian Government meets with aviation workers to avert strike

By Matthew Eloyi

The Federal Government of Nigeria has begun to take steps to avert a nationwide strike by aviation workers.

Sen. Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, stated this in Abuja on Monday at a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Aviation and unions representing aviation workers.

The aviation workers, represented by the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), threatened to leave their jobs by February 8 due to reported bad working conditions and unimplemented agreements with the government.

Ngige praised the aviation workers for their maturity in handling their situation, saying they acted in the spirit of labor conciliation.

He observed that the aviation workers provided his ministry the proper warning, but that they decided that their parent ministry should deal with them first.

In his words, “I am happy that the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Aviation reported that they met with you, but there are two major areas that they could not reach agreement with you.

“Therefore, you had to escalate the matter by issuing an ultimatum to close the entire air space. I can see that all of you are here, both the traffic controllers and engineers.

“We thought there may be some openings in the air space, but I can see that all of you are united.

“I can assure you that we are going to reach agreements here and some of the agreements will be reached with the speed of a flash and we will get back to them.”

Ngige, however, stated that NUATE and officials from his ministry reached a conciliation agreement in which they agreed on March 31 as the deadline for consummation, questioning why such an agreement exists and they are now on a steeplechase.

“But that is not the issue now. I know about your complaints and that is why I called all the stakeholders, including the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC) and the Federal Ministry of Aviation.

“I had discussed most of the issues with your employers, the Minister and the Permanent Secretary and we decided on a line of action. It is that this government, the President in particular, does not believe that we can disengage people.

“The President does not believe a worker is not due his remunerations in terms of salaries and allowances. That is why nobody can complain that we are owing salaries.

“Some allowances that have not been fine-tuned, once fine-tuned, the government will pay because the President was a wage earning person all through his military career.

“That is why he does not deal with anything pertaining to anybody being owed for work done,” he said.

He added that as long as he is the Minister of Labour, no government agency will owe anybody salaries and confirmed allowances.

Mr Hadi Sirika, Minister of Aviation, also spoke, saying that agitating for workers’ rights and privileges is legal and appropriate, especially under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

The minister, on the other hand, portrayed the squabble as an internal dispute between the government and its parastatals.

He stated that such issues could be resolved, anticipating that the union officials would return to their members with something to which they would be pleased.

Mr Ahmadu Ilitrus, the National President of the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSAN), spoke on behalf of the aviation unions and urged for immediate action to fulfill their demands.

He pointed out that no employee from the Aviation Ministry has benefited from the Minimum Wage Bill since it was signed in 2019.

He claimed that many airline personnel left employment without receiving compensation, and he urged the government to ensure that those who earned it were compensated.

He also demanded that the revised conditions of service for aviation personnel be approved and released.

He urged the government to address the issue of suppression of unionisation in the aviation industry.