Foreign, domestic flights to shut down on Monday

Foreign, domestic flights to shut down on Monday

Local and international flights may be shut down in Nigeria on Monday and Tuesday as the unions in the aviation industry say there is no going back on the two-day warning strike declared to demand improved wages for workers in the sector.

The unions on Thursday declared the warning strike for Monday and Tuesday following the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum earlier issued to the Federal Government through the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika.

The unions are the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN); the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) and the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP).

They are demanding, among others, that the planned demolition of aviation agencies’ headquarters in Lagos be halted.

It would be recalled that the unions and the minister have been at loggerheads over his plan to demolish the Lagos offices of aviation agencies to build an Aerotropolis (Airport City).

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The minister had said there was no going back on the planned demolition while the unions insisted no befitting offices in Abuja for thousands of aviation agencies’ workers currently in Lagos.

They are also protesting the non-implementation of minimum wage and other welfare demands in the aviation agencies – the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), and Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).

In a joint statement issued by the unions and signed by Comrade Ocheme Aba, (General Secretary of NUATE); Comrade Frances Akinjole (ATSSSAN); Comrade Abdulrazaq Saidu (ANAP) and Comrade Unoh Ofonime (NAAPE), they said,  “The ultimatum has since expired and nothing tangible has been yielded from our efforts and that of the Ministry of Aviation.”