The National Union of Air Transport Employees, NUATE, has expressed its frustration over the alleged ‘one-man-show governance of the industry by the aviation minister, Hadi Sirika.
This is just as the union described this trend as extremely dangerous, preposterous and truly objectionable.
“We have persistently pointed out the folly of one-man-show in the governance of the sector”.
In his Workers’ Day celebration address, the NUATE President, Comrade Ben Nnabue says, since there had been no governing boards for all the agencies in aviation, and the CEOs being direct employees of the Minister of Aviation, and the Minister being the Chairman of all the so called Interim Boards, the affairs of the entire aviation industry has been contrived to be totally in the hands of one man.
“All our protestations on the subject over the past years have fallen on deaf ears. That stakeholders in the industry have tolerated this circumstance for all of six years is quite honestly incomprehensible”.
He also expressed the union frustration over the unjust treatment meted to workers of aviation agencies by the Salaries and Wages Commission and the Head of Service and threatened that if the commission failed to do the needful on the matter, actions will be ordered as from 17th of May, 2021.
“We have become tired of begging for our rights in respect of the stated issues of Conditions of Service and minimum wage which has been denied aviation workers for two years running. And we have lost our patience on the matter. Accordingly, all our branches in the agencies concerned should follow the example of NCAA and convene their respective JAC meetings for the purpose of mobilizing for industrial action, as several ultimatum on the matter have gone by without any result whatsoever”.
Comrade Nnabue urged also draw government’s attention to the nexus between the large scale redundancies, leave without pay, salary cuts, etc and aviation security, adding that this is against the background of current national insecurity.
“Therefore, it is our considered view that Government must tailor its financial intervention in the sector to mitigate these prevalent unsavory indices a vital point that ought to have been given prime consideration in the last intervention, but was inexplicably overrun by the urge to share. This, of course, speaks to the need for further interventions. We plead”.
The NUATE President also used the day, to call on members of the National Assembly, the Federal Executive Council and the Presidency to work together to put a halt to the travesty called airports concession and save our dear Nation from further draining of the national treasury.
“Our irreversible opposition to the unjustifiable program is based on unassailable evidence of unwholesomeness and is well documented”.
