Following the threat by aviation workers under the aegis of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), to withdraw their services effective from 8th February 2022 over poor welfare and unimplemented agreements, the Federal Government has begun discussions to avert the strike.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, convened a meeting on Monday in Abuja comprising leadership of the unions, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, and other relevant top government officials.
Ngige, who commended the workers for their display of maturity in the spirit of labour conciliation, noted that they gave the necessary warning to his ministry, but wanted their parent ministry to first engage with them.
He said: “I am happy that the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Aviation reported that they did so with you, but there are two major areas that they couldn’t reach agreement with you and therefore, you had to escalate the matter by issuing an ultimatum to close the entire air space.
“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, drew attention to a conciliation agreement earlier done by NUATE with officials of his ministry, in which they agreed on March 31 as the timeline for the consummation, wondering why such an agreement exists and it was now as if they were 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.
“As long as I am the Minister of Labour, no government agency will owe anybody salaries and even confirmed allowances. If you cannot pay all, the CBA negotiations allow you to do ability to pay at the time in question so that you can stagger payment. But, we will agree on things today, put timelines on them and it will be done.”
On his part, Sirika noted that the agitation for the rights and privileges of workers was lawful and acceptable, especially under the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, which in its manifesto, entrenched the principle of social democracy, adding that the government takes the issue of labour very seriously.
The minister, however, described the agitation as something in-house between the Ministry and its parastatals, which could be dealt with, hoping that the leadership of the unions will go back to their members with something that they will be happy about.
Speaking on behalf of the aviation unions, the National President, Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSAN), Ahmadu Ilitrus, called for urgent measures to address their demands.
He lamented that since 2019 when the Minimum Wage Bill was signed, no worker from the Aviation Ministry has benefitted from it, adding that many of the aviation workers had left service without benefitting from it.
While urging the government to look back and ensure that those who deserve the payment were paid, he called for the approval/release of the reviewed conditions of service for aviation workers and also appealed to the government to address the issue of suppression of unionization in the aviation industry.
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