•Rejects airport concession, 50% IGR deduction
By Chinelo Obogo
The National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) has said it will declare an industrial action against Turkish Airlines over its alleged victimisation of union members.
NUATE President, Ben Nnabue, issued the warning during his address at the 2025 Workers’ Day celebrations.
He accused Turkish Airlines’ General Manager in Nigeria of unlawfully barring employees from joining labour unions and holding elective offices, which he says violates Nigeria’s labour laws.
He added that despite spirited efforts by the Ministers of Aviation and Labour to mediate, the airline reportedly refused to comply.
Nnabue also noted that a lawsuit filed by Turkish Airlines against the union was recently dismissed by the National Industrial Court for lacking merit.
“The victimisation of Turkish Airlines staff for union membership has crossed all limits. With the court case dismissed and mediation failed, we have no choice but to act. Our Lagos and Abuja branches are ready for industrial action immediately after May Day,” he said.
Nnabue also condemned the federal government’s policy of deducting 50% of internally generated revenue (IGR) from aviation agencies, warning that this action is jeopardising safety.. “These deductions cripple agencies’ capacities to fund critical infrastructure. We therefore urge an immediate reversal of this policy,” he stated.
The NUATE president criticised what he described as the lack of transparency in the procedure for airport concession citing worker’s anxieties over their job security. He also slammed the absence of governing boards in aviation agencies, saying, “Operating without boards is illegal and detrimental to the growth of the industry.”
He denounced the poor salaries and bad working conditions which he said is rampant in private aviation companies and urged the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to intervene.
He further said that NUATE plans to collaborate with the Ministry of Finance to settle the decades of severance debts owed to ex-Nigeria Airways workers and also push for a new national carrier.