The four major unions in the aviation sector on Wednesday night called off the industrial action against the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and the planned shutdown of the airports after the intervention of the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika.
The unions had shut down Lagos and Abuja offices of the NCAA on Wednesday morning and called for the sacking of its Director-General, Muktar Usman, over his alleged compromise on safety standards and high handedness as well as the refusal of the Federal Government to review the agency’s new organogram.
The National Union of Air Transport Employees, Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers and Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals had staged a major protest that prevented NCAA workers and those of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency from gaining access to their offices.
The NCAA is the regulator of civil aviation in Nigeria and the protest in Lagos and Abuja on Wednesday crippled its operations for hours and negatively affected the activities of nearby offices.
But around 8.30pm on Wednesday, the unions announced the suspension of the strike after a two-hour closed-door meeting with the minister in Abuja.
Speaking on behalf of the unions, the National President, ATSSSAN, Illitrus Ahmadu, told journalists that the government and the unions had reached an agreement.
According to him, the issue of a revised organogram, which was the core on the unions’ demands, would be reviewed by the ministry as the minister had agreed to some concessions.
He said the minister had promised that the issue would be resolved in the next seven days.
On workers’ welfare, Ahmadu said the minister promised to personally visit the National Salaries and Wages Commission to get the workers’ revised staff condition of service approved.
For the constitution of a board for the NCAA, the ATSSSAN president said the unions also agreed that there was an abnormality in the constitution of the board.
He, however, stated that the minister promised that the government would soon resolve the matter.
On his part, Sirika acknowledged the grievances of the union and also agreed that the unions had all made significant concessions on their demands.
He assured the aviation workers that he would personally visit the salaries and wages commission to resolve the condition of service approval issues.
Sirika further noted that a committee would be set up to review the NCAA organogram and submit its report in one week.
Source: Punch
