Thousands of travellers were stranded across major airports in Nigeria on Tuesday as aviation workers embarked on a strike.
The industrial action was over alleged anti-union practices, casualisation of workers and withholding of statutory funds, including the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) by domestic airlines.
The strike led to suspension, cancellation and rescheduling of flights by the affected airlines.
Aviation unions, including National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), directed their members to join the strike and they were backed by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC).
At the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 in Lagos, as well as the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Terminal in Abuja, officials of the three unions in the early hours of Tuesday barricaded entrances of the departure terminals, preventing the airlines from attending to passengers.
The airlines whose flight operations were worst affected included Air Peace, United Nigeria Airlines, Ibom Air, Enugu Air and Aero Contractors.
Customer Service Officers attached to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) took time to assuage angry passengers who could not undertake their flights on the affected airlines.
ATSSSAN National President, John Ogbe, attributed the strike to the expiration of consecutive 14-day, seven-day, and three-day ultimatums given the airlines on the issues in contention.
The other contentious issues are the airlines’ failure to regularise qualified casual workers and withholding more than N25 billion in statutory funds due to the NCAA and other aviation agencies.
Ogbe stated that a recent intervention meeting on the issues by the Ministry of Aviation ended without progress after the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) declined to engage.
He warned that if the dispute remained unresolved, the strike would expand to all the remaining domestic airports nationwide starting from Wednesday.
