Fidelia Okafor.

The unions in the aviation sector have again shut down the operations of Arik airline nationwide following unresolved issues.

The three major unions which are Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), are demanding for the re-instatement of sacked union leaders, review of conditions of service and remittance of necessary unions deductions to their respective unions.

The General Secretary of NUATE, Mr. Olayinka Abioye at the union’s secretariat, Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, accused the new management of intolerance to unionism in the airline.

He alleged that the new management via a circular had warned the workers not to join any union in the industry and also refused to address pending issues, as they affect workers in the airline.

Mr Abioye recalled that the unions in December 2016 had issues with the former management of the airline, which led to the shutdown of the operations of the carrier for a day before the intervention of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.

This, he said, led to the suspension of the strike.

According to him, “Certain commitments were extracted from the meeting and we are supposed to have a feedback early this year, but when we got there early this year, Arik Air management was not insight and we later learnt that Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria management has taken over the airline.”

“As expected from responsible union bodies, we wrote a letter to the new management seeking for a meeting with them, which was approved. We got to that meeting and the Receiver Manager, Mr Mr. Oluseye Opasanya, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), acted in an un-civilised manner.”

“He walked out the union leaders of the three unions and asked his bodyguards to send us out,” he added.