Aviation unions give NiMet a 14-day strike notice

The National Union of Air Transport Employees, the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees have threatened ground operations at the Nigerian Meteorological Agency for non-implementation of the approved minimum wage within two weeks’ time.

This is stated in a letter sent to The PUNCH in Abuja on Thursday, January 26, 2023, which was jointly signed by the Secretary General, NUATE, Ocheme Aba; Secretary General, AUPCTRE, Siriku Waheed and the Secretary General, ANAP, Abdul Saidu addressed the Director General of NiMET.

However, the unions described NiMET’s failure to pass the resulting minimum wage adjustment, despite its implementation in five other airline agencies since February 2022, as “bad”.

The unions noted that the issue of non-implementation of the approved NiMET minimum wage adjustment has reached its crescendo, adding that only NiMet personnel had been denied its implementation.

The unions insisted they had been denied benefits since the minimum wage law came into effect in April 2019, stressing that management had been lukewarm about the welfare of its workers over the years.

In part, they read: “As such, it is too much to expect the hapless staff of NiMET to continue to bear the brunt of this act of wickedness. And on this point no excuse can be tenable; nothing can justify this kind of abuse.

“As unions, it will be irresponsible on our part to sit idly by while our members in NiMET wallow in their misery caused by the continued denial of their right to enjoy the benefits of a valid law – the Minimum Wage Act.

“In view of the foregoing, we wish to inform NiMET management that our unions, as noted above, will not be able to ensure continued industry harmony at NiMET if after 14 days the resulting minimum wage adjustment for NiMET is not being implemented.”

The Ministers of Aviation, Labor and Employment, the Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and presidents and secretaries of their unions in NiMET were copied in the letter.