•Airline faults action, says meeting already scheduled
“The
unions, however, did not wait for the scheduled meeting or the outcome
of the meeting before embarking on such disruptive and strong-arm
tactics against the airline.
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•Protesters demand seven-month unpaid wages
The
plight of air passengers in the country worsened yesterday as Arik Air,
the largest airline in West Africa, was shut down by protesting
workers.
The
workers, led by the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE),
the Air Transport Senior Staff Services Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN)
and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE),
among others, embarked on the industrial action in protest against
alleged seven-month unpaid salaries and other anti-labour issues.
The
crisis in the country’s aviation sector will mount pressure on the
already troubled road transport system and increase costs with serious
implication on prices of goods and services during the yuletide.
Disrupted
services in the air transport business will also cut into the revenue
of government and regulatory agencies, which depend on operational
charges to sustain oversight functions.
A
retired pilot, John Ojikutu said irrespective of the cost on operators
and regulators, airlines were overdue for economic auditing, to put them
in check and save the country’s airspace.
The
passengers that have been battling with the effects of the aviation
fuel scarcity in the last one week, had their woes compounded as
available aircraft were further reduced by 50 per cent due to the
closure of Arik.
While
other airlines like Air Peace, First Nation, Med-View, Dana Air,
Overland and Azman could not take the spillover from Arik due to low
capacity, about 100 per cent hike in ticket fares was noticed by Tuesday
afternoon.
At
the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) and Murtala Muhammed Airport II
terminal, both in Lagos, for instance, an economic class ticket to Abuja
that on Monday sold for between N27,500 and N32,000 was yesterday
offered for N54,000. The business class equivalent of the ticket was
given at N75, 800 to N80,000.
At
most of the counters, however, the same flights were declared “fully
booked,” with a backlog of passengers waiting due to delays which
airlines blamed on “operational reasons.”
The
Guardian learnt that the situation was not any different at the major
airport terminals in Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano as passengers waited
endlessly for flights to arrive from Lagos.
It
would be recalled that Arik Air and labour unions had been at
loggerheads over alleged non-observance of industrial rules in the
organisation, with threats to ground the airline to force compliance.
As
early as 6:00 a.m. yesterday, Arik Air workers and others in
solidarity, embarked on strike, shutting operations nationwide to demand
the payment of outstanding salaries and observance of labour laws
bordering on the welfare of workers.
At
the Arik headquarters in Lagos, the unions, in company of officials of
the Nigerian Lagos Congress (NLC) and the National Union of Electricity
Employees (NUEE), barricaded the main entrance, preventing access and
causing traffic snarl on both ends of the airport’s access road.
On
their placards are inscriptions like “Imagine! Arik is owing seven
months salaries. What a wicked organisation!” and “Poor staff welfare.
No promotion in Arik Airline.”
Addressing
the protesters, General Secretary of NUATE, Olayinka Abioye, said the
unions decided to ground Arik Air for safety reasons that could no
longer be overlooked.
Abioye
said: “Arik Air has refused to pay workers salaries for seven months
and we know that a disgruntled worker is an accident waiting to happen.
The airline has been defaulting in taxes and other statutory deductions
from workers’ remunerations.
“Besides,
the management has refused to allow total unionisation of its employees
in compliance with extant labour laws and with respect to the
constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. All of these we are
here to enforce.”
The
protesters also demanded the immediate reinstatement of five of the
airline’s employees who were allegedly sacked for their involvement in
union activities.
Abioye
further alleged that Arik Air was owing about N13 billion and N6
billion to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the
Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).
According
to him, the airline is also indebted to its aviation fuel suppliers and
ground handlers and therefore “should be declared insolvent by the
Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).”
Arik
Air is the largest of the seven domestic airlines operating in the
country, with no fewer than 28 aircraft running over 100 flights per
day. The airline accounted for over 40 per cent of domestic operations
in September 2016, according to NCAA figures.
The
General Secretary of ATSSSAN, Francis Akinjole, said the unions were
prepared to embark on the strike for as long as possible, saying “it
cannot be business as usual for Arik.”
“A
pilot who is disgruntled can crash an aircraft deliberately. An
engineer who is being owed salaries can sabotage the aircraft. So we
need to ground Arik Air until the management shows that they are
responsible,” Akinjole said.
The
Spokesman for Arik Air, Banji Ola, in his response to the allegations
said the organisation was “disappointed” by the actions of the unions to
“ambush and disrupt the operations of the airline.
Ola
said while Arik apologised to its affected passengers, both domestic
and international, the airline called on the minister of state for
aviation, regulators and security operatives to intervene in the
situation.
“The
union’s leadership had earlier written a letter to the management of
Arik Air on their grievances and a meeting had been scheduled between
the two parties for today (Wednesday, December 21, 2016).
“The
unions have demonstrated total disregard for the laws of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria by interfering in the operations of the airline and
preventing its staff from carrying on with their duties of handling the
passengers booked for today’s flights.
“The
decision not to join the aviation unions is that of the generality of
Arik Air and the management of the airline is not involved in any manner
and neither can it influence such individual decisions in any form
since unionism is a free will and not a matter of compulsion.
“Arik
Air is appealing to all the security agencies, the Minister of
Aviation, NCAA, FAAN, NAMA and all the other stakeholders in the
industry to prevail on these aviation unions to allow operations to
commence immediately since this unjustifiable disruption by the unions
has already inconvenienced the travel plans of thousands of passengers
today (Tuesday),” Ola said.
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