By Adedapo Adesanya
Passengers, airlines, and the government are counting their losses as flights have been affected in the country as employees from seven trade unions are demanding better working conditions.
They have blocked access to the country’s largest airports in Lagos and Abuja, on the first day of the strike on Monday, with local and international air passengers stranded.
Their action has been projected to cost heavily on the aviation sector as the country grapples with rising costs and fuel shortages.
Speaking on Channels TV on Tuesday, the General Secretary of one of the unions, the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Mr Ocheme Aba, said the strike continued after the meeting of Sunday was deadlocked.
He said this is so “because nobody could give a guarantee of when the Conditions of Service for the agencies will be released. So, we were also unable to give any assurances of not going on strike.”
“However, we understand that the Salaries and Wages Commission has also convened another meeting with the agencies today. We are not invited to the meeting so we don’t know what discussions are ongoing and how that will pan out or is relevant to the situation at hand.
“Secondly, with regards to aviation being an essential service provider, this is a fallacy; it’s not correct at all.
“The International Labour Organisation, through its official instrument of action, has already defined what essential service is and has also clearly defined that aviation is not an essential services provider except the services provided through air control,” he added.
The NUATE secretary said an essential service provider is one through which its withdrawal can affect the lives of groups of people.
He said, “Aviation does not provide such service except through air traffic control,” he explained.
“For example, if an air traffic controller says an airplane should not land, you might be putting to risk the people who are in the aircraft. But when you say aircraft should not take off, you are not putting anybody’s life at risk, and the services that airlines provide are not different from the services that Ekenedilichukwu or any transport company provides,” he added.
Mr Aba also said the National Industrial Court has ruled that aviation and airlines do not render essential services.
“Nigerian doctors have been constantly going on strike without any talk about essential services. So, this talk about essential services is neither here nor there,” the union executive insisted.
The new Act of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) states that industrial actions are illegal as aviation is classified as an essential service.
