THE NATIONAL Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) has called for the urgent review of the conditions of service of aviation agencies.
Comrade Ben Nnabue, the National President of NUATE, made the call in his 2024 May Day address on Wednesday, in Lagos.
Comrade Nnabue said that previous reviews had taken up to nine years to get approvals, which should not be.
He stated that the outcomes after such long waits were a far cry from the negotiated agreements between unions and 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 Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (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 managements of FAAN, NSIB, NIMET, NAMA and NCAT continue to ignore the call,” Nnabue said.
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FAAN is the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, NSIB is Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau, NIMET Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NAMA Nigerian Airspace Management Agency and NCAT Nigerian College of Aviation Technology.
Speaking on the National Minimum Wage Act review, Nnabue urged stakeholders to ensure that the private and quasi-private sectors were adequately protected in the negotiations as core civil servants.
“This time around, there must be clear provisions as to consequential adjustments of the agreed minimum wage applicable to all groups and sub-groups spelt out in the law.
“NUATE will not accept the previous situation whereby civil servants were the sole beneficiaries, while others were left to labour for years on end before receiving pittance as consequential adjustment, as happened to aviation parastatals the last time,” he said.
Expressing displeasure with the current economic situation, the unionist said that strong policy changes, with regards to fuel subsidy removal and floating the naira, led to the sharp inflationary rises.
He said that these had brought Nigerians untold hardship.
“In the aviation sector, these twin changes have had very un-salutary impact on businesses, creating uncertainties and social dis-equilibriums.
“The attendant rises in the cost of doing business has seriously challenged management capabilities and as usual, the worker is being made to bear the burnt.
“As a result, the industrial atmosphere is presently flammable because the cost of living has hit the roof.
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“Pre-existing salary regimes have completely gone out of equilibrium, creating urgent need for reviews,” he noted.
He decried the poor remuneration of private security personnel in the industry and urged the NCAA to look into the trend.
In the same vein, Nnabue, cautioned Turkish Airlines against alleged anti-union activities.
“The Union has capacity to put the Airline in its place and restore the dignity of labour of our victimized members, and that we must,” he said.
Nnabue also spoke on other areas such as the 50 per cent Treasury Single Account (TSA) of internally generated revenue of some aviation agencies which were only recovering cost.
He also called on President Bola Tinubu to look into settling the final tranche payments of the ex-staff of the defunct Nigeria Airways.
Nnabue advised the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo (SAN) to hold a stakeholders’ engagement to close communication gaps.
He said it would also help to establish negotiation protocols among different segments and 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 among others.
“It will also facilitate conformity with other global and continental conventions which Nigeria has assented to on various issues,” he added
Nnabue said that the campaign held on April 29, in Lagos, for the unionisation of private domestic airlines in Nigeria would be replicated in Abuja and Kano shortly.
He said it was an approach to get Air Peace, Ibom Air, Azman air, Max Air, Value Jet, Green Africa, Rano Air, United Nigeria Airlines, AOS Helicopters, Dana Air and others to embrace the reality of allowing their workers to join the union.
He thanked members of the union for upholding the pact to stand for aviation workers at all levels. (NAN)
