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Chinelo Obogo
The Managing Director of Arik Air, Captain Roy Ilegbodu, has appealed to the Minister of Aviation, Captain Hadi Sirika and the Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige, to intervene following threats by two aviation unions to shut down the airline on September 14.
Two unions, the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and Air Transport Senior Staff Services Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) had in a letter to all Arik Air workers on Friday, asked them to begin strike on Monday, September 14, 2020, over some issues bothering on Condition of Service.
But a letter from the airline, titled “Re-unions in Arik Air threaten to down tools September 14, drew the attention of the Ministers to ‘a new threat by the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and Air Transport Senior Staff Services Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) to call Arik Air workers out on strike on Monday, September 14, 2020’.
The letter which was signed by Captain Ilegbodu and copied to Sirika and Director General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu, stated that the airline ‘strongly believes that the threat of strike without an exhaustive use of the various channels of engagement, discussion, consensus and understanding is faulty and unlikely to yield the best outcomes for staff, the company and its faithful passengers.’’ It added that the issue at stake only affects 20 out of over 1,600 staff, adding however that the Minister of Labour and employment should appeal to the understanding of the workers ‘ unions as this is the only way both parties can protect ‘a loss making entity’ from further issues. “It is in fact an abuse of the position of union leadership as the issues in dispute cannot pass the test of fairness and only affect, in the short term, less than 20 staff out of a work force of over 1600. As at press time, a source at the meeting told Daily Sun that the strike would go ahead as planned as no agreement had been reached as at 8pm last night.
