FG to enforce law prohibiting industrial actions by aviation workers

Federal Government is set to enforce the section of the Civil Aviation Act (2022) which disallows aviation workers from embarking on flight-crippling industrial actions in the future.

Fielding questions by State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Wednesday, Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said the decision follows the recent strike by workers of a major ground handling firm in the country which crippled flight services at the Lagos airport, Monday.

 The minister who described the strike by the workers as ‘wrong, inhumane, and against the law,’ further apologised to air travellers who were caught up by the workers’ action.

It would be recalled that flight services at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), ikeja, Lagos, were on Monday morning grounded as workers of the ground handling company, NAHCO Aviance embarked on a strike.

NAHCO handles check-in, boarding and ramp services for several international airlines including; Air France/KLM, Qatar, Ethiopian Airlines, Delta Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Turkish Air.

NAHCO Aviance is also the biggest aviation ground handling service provider in the country with presence in all major Nigerian airports.

Workers of the NAHCO Aviance had embarked on an industrial action, Monday, despite a subsisting court order, to press home their demands on the management to effect administrative policies, including remuneration.

The workers, under the aegis of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association (ATSSSAN) had last week issued a five – day notice of strike to NAHCO management citing slow progress in negotiation for salary review.

In response, NAHCO Aviance appealed to the workers for accelerated negotiation to be continued next month, February to enable it stabilise from the financial effect of the recent promotions. The company had recently promoted about 2,000 staff.

However, the labour unions insisted on a strike action prompting NAHCO Aviance management to seek for court intervention to prevent the planned industrial action by the workers.

The aviation firm, reacting to the strike, Monday, in a statement signed by the Group Executive Director, Dr. Olusola Obabori, in Lagos, confirmed the development, as he also lamented that some of the company’s clients were being put through a difficult situation by the insistence of some staff to embark on strike action despite a subsisting order of court which restrained them from doing so.

“We regret all the inconveniences. We are already engaging the unions and other stakeholders and are positive the situation would be resolved within hours.

“We understand the power of negotiation. The company which has arguably the best welfare package among the local players in the aviation industry will do all that is absolutely necessary to make its workforce happy even as it delights its customers.

“This situation would be resolved speedily as it is detrimental to the staff, the company and its esteemed clients,” he said.

According to Sirika, the relevant sections of the Civil Aviation Act 2022 to prevent future disruptions will now be enforced, as the legislation 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.

Describing aviation as an essential service, the minister argued that the striking workers had other less-disruptive avenues to voice their grievances.

“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 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,” the minister said.