Aviation workers celebrate May Day

Workers in the aviation sector joined others in celebrating May 1st, a day set aside for commemorating all workers in the country.

Speaking at the event organized by the unions in the sector, the president of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Comrade Ben Nnabue, described the year as one full of economic vagaries occasioned by strong policy changes by the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, particularly regarding fuel subsidy removal and the floating of the national currency, the Naira.

According to Nnabue, the consequences of these policies, as expected, led to sharp inflationary rises, subsequently wreaking untold hardship on the populace, especially common folks, of which workers form a significant portion.

“In the aviation sector, these twin changes have had a very unsalutary impact on businesses, creating uncertainties and social disequilibriums.

The attendant rises in the cost of doing business have seriously challenged management capabilities. And, as usual, the worker is being made to bear the brunt. As a result, the industrial atmosphere is presently flammable, needing all available attendance and resourceful thinking.

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“So, as we celebrate Workers Day 2024, NUATE’s thoughts are on the mirage of disquieting situations in our industry. Because the cost of living has hit the roof, pre-existing salary regimes have completely gone out of equilibrium, creating an urgent need for reviews.

Our Great Union has presently carried out such reviews in a number of our branch organizations, is undertaking the same in a number of others, while more are still being lined up. It is important to call on all managements to cooperate with the Union in order to arrive at meaningful resolutions in all cases in a fair manner that provides enough to enable the worker to continue to present himself/herself for work every working day.

“We call on the stakeholders in the ongoing review of the National Minimum Wage Act to ensure that the private and quasi-private sectors are adequately protected in the negotiations, just as core civil servants are. This time around, there must be clear provisions as to the consequential adjustments of the agreed minimum wage applicable to all groups and sub-groups spelled out in the law. NUATE will not accept the previous situation whereby Civil Servants were the sole beneficiaries while others were left to labor for years on end before receiving a pittance as consequential adjustment, as happened to aviation parastatals the last time around.

“The review of the Conditions of Service of the aviation agencies has become very urgent. The previous reviews took up to nine (9) years to receive approval. And, to pour insult upon injury, what came out after approval was a pale shadow of the negotiated agreements between the Unions and the Managements. We, therefore, call on the Agencies to answer the call from the Unions to commence the process of the review without further delay. That only the NCAA has answered this call up to date is extremely disturbing.

We state here categorically that NUATE will not hesitate to take any further steps to assert our right in this regard should the remaining managements of FAAN, NSIB, NIMET, NAMA, and NCAT continue to neglect our strident calls.”

The union appreciated the Minister of Aviation & Aerospace Development for notable efforts at settling the final leg of payments to the hapless ex-staff of the defunct Nigeria Airways.

“And we urge him not to relent until the matter is fully laid to rest. In this respect, may we fervently call on the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to harken to the pleas of the suffering former workers and approve the request before him for the release of the final payment tranche so as to put this epic case to a final closure.

“We wish to again reiterate our advice to the minister to convoke a stakeholders’ engagement, the outcomes of which would close communication gaps in the sector, establish negotiation protocols among different segments, put forward advisories on topical aviation issues. Also, such engagement will provide veritable aviation frameworks for embracing global and continental treaties and agreements such as AfCFTA, WTO, AGOA, etc., as well as conformities with other global and continental conventions to which Nigeria has assented on various issues.”