….union members urge to think outside the boxes…. Ojikutu
Passengers this morning were denied entry into the the Murtala Mohammed Terminal 2 to board their flights as unions in the aviation industry disrupt operations because of an industrial dispute.
Some of the passengers had to spend money not budgeted for as they rushed to the General Aviation Terminal One operated by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria FAAN to buy another airline ticket to avoid missing their appointments for the day.
Also hit by the unions action are anks, entries, shopping malls, travel agencies, car rentals, boutiques, ground handling companies operating in the terminal and Airlines affected include, Dana, Arik, Aero, Max, Medview and Azman.
The disruption also affected other passengers at airports were these airlines operate to.
The three unions had given notice that they would disrupt operations at MMA2 from today over the disengagement of some workers of Bi-Courtney Aviation S services L limited manager of the terminal who they said were disengaged for their alleged attempt to join them, but who the company said had attained retirement age or were found not to be diligent in their duties.
Yesterday, a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos had granted an order restraining the three unions from carrying out their threats of disrupting the activities of the terminal from this morning in the suit filed by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), operators of MMA2.
In a statement, signed by its spokesman, Mr. Steve Omolale said, any attempt to carry out this lawless act despite the subsisting court order would be viewed seriously and considered as an act of economic sabotage targeting a concession which they constantly tried to truncate.
He stressed that as a law-abiding corporate citizen, they would do everything possible within the ambit of the law to protect their facility.
The statement said: “BASL is fully aware of the plan by some unions in the aviation sector to disrupt the operations of MMA2 over our decision to disengage some employees. Disengaging the ex-employees had nothing to do with unionism, as we were not aware of this. In as much as we know that the unions have the right to protest without disturbing public peace and safety, we too reserve the right to ensure that our operations and services are not interrupted in any way whatsoever.
Meetings to resolve the matter amicably between the management of the MM2 and the unions by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority NCAA have failed.
Reacting to the Unions action, a stakeholder, John Ojikutu said,”We cannot talk about government impunity and disobedience to court order when we the governed too do same. Leadership is at every level and not only in government. Many travellers rights are being infringed upon; many airlines operations are distrupted; many man hours are lost so also the financial losses more to the airlines, the passengers who have business plans appointments to keep. All these contribute to the earnings of those staff NUATE is claiming to be protecting. Let the NUATE members and its exco think outside their boxes”.
