Labour strike: Aviation unions vow to cripple local, international flights

The unions in the country’s aviation sector have declared their intentions to partake in the indefinite strike scheduled to begin on November 6.

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) had announced the strike as a means to press home the demands for an upward review of minimum wage from N18,000 to N30,000.

In a notice on Saturday, the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP), and National Association of Aircraft-Pilot Engineers (NAAPE) alerted all airport workers, including agencies, airlines and other relevant business owners across the airports of the planned strike.

The notice was co-signed by Temenu Akinola, NUATE, Frances Akinjole, ATSSSAN, Ocheme Aba, NAAPE and Abdulrasaq Saidu, ANAP.

The unions asked all workers to comply with the directive, saying it would not tolerate any sabotage of the strike action.

“As you are all aware, the NLC, TUC and ULC have jointly declared an indefinite national strike action commencing from November 6, 2018, over the vexed issue of Government unwillingness to implement the report of the tripartite committee on minimum wage review,” the notice read.

“In complying with the directive of the Labour Centres, therefore, we issue this notice to all workers in the aviation sector to withdraw all services from 00:00 hours of November 6, 2018.

“This notice also applies to all businesses and agencies involved with the aviation to be aware of the above situation and adjust their businesses accordingly.

“The general public, especially the international travelling public, are equally notified to avoid or cancel plans to utilise aviation services within the period of the strike.

“For emphasis, all workers must comply with this directive as our Unions will not tolerate any sabotage of the strike action.”