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By Chinelo Obogo
The Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) has reached a truce with Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL) and called off the industrial action against company over the sacking of 34 members of the union without due process.
The union said that it called of the industrial action following the intervention by the the Ministry of Labour and Employment and other aviation agencies at a meeting in Lagos.
“The strike that was embarked upon against Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited has been called off pursuant the acceptance by the company to recall the laid off members of our union and an undertaking to pay their salaries.
The agreement was reached at a meeting empaneled by the Ministry of Labour and Employment; the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and airport security agencies,” ATSSSAN said.
Domestic airlines operating at the Murtala Muhammed airport (MM2) operated by BASL temporarily relocated to the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) operated by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) yesterday after aviation unions shut the terminal and grounded operations.
Daily Sun earlier reported that passengers and airlines were left stranded in the early hours of Tuesday morning after ATSSSAN barricaded the MMA2 terminal, Lagos over the sacking of 34 members of the union by BASL
without following due process.
The union barricaded the entrance of the airport by 2am on Tuesday and remained there till evening on the same day.
ATSSSAN had alleged that BASL, operators of MMA2, sacked 34 of its members illegally on Friday last week with “ordinary e-mails” sent to their different boxes with disregard to the rule of law after they were first sent on compulsory leave of absence for 10 days.
The Vice President and Deputy General Secretary of ATSSSAN, Emmanuel Jaja and Frances Akinjole, said during a press conference on Monday that most of those laid off had put in at least a decade into the job with the company.
Akinjole insisted that the action was to witch-hunt its members as its branch chairman, branch secretary, branch treasurer and branch women leader were all affected by the sack.
He said the action of the management contravened Section 20 of the Labour Act on engagement and disengagement of staff by any company in the country, maintaining that the union would kick severely against the act of the management.
Airlines like Ibom Air and Azman Air announced their relocation to GAT pending the resolution.
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However, ATSSSAN says a truce has been reached with BASL and the strike has been called off.
