The
president of the NAAPE, Abdenego Galadima, in an interview with journalists on
Sunday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, alleged that
hundreds of workers who were laid off by the airline were yet to be paid their
pittances by the management as agreed to with the unions in March this year.
One of the
leading unions in the Nigerian aviation industry, the National Association of
Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), has threatened to ground the operations
of
Aero Contractors over its dismissal of 60 percent of its workforce, in
violation of the airline’s agreement with the union.
The airline
cited redundancy as the reason for the layoffs.
The
president of the NAAPE, Abdenego Galadima, in an interview with journalists on
Sunday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, alleged that
hundreds of workers who were laid off by the airline were yet to be paid their
pittances by the management as agreed to with the unions in March this year.
Mr. Galadima
said that none of the agreements entered with the unions leading to the sacking
of hundreds of engineers and pilots were abided to by the management.
It would be
recalled that Aero Contractors has been under the receivership of the Asset
Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON). The airline was taken over by AMCON
following massive unpaid indebtedness to banks by the airline.
Mr. Galadima
accused the receiver manager of Aero Contractors of unilaterally throwing the
affected workers out of the airline without paying them their redundancy
benefits, describing it as “wicked impunity” which would not be allowed to
stand.
He declared
that the strike would commence as soon as the NAAPE finished consultations with
other unions in the industry, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union
Congress (TUC) and other affiliated bodies.
The union
leader purported that the airline ran into murky waters due to mismanagement of
resources, unbridled profligacy and massive fraudulent practices, but regretted
that workers were now being made to pay the price.
He said the
workers worked tirelessly to ensure the airline remained in the air, but
eventually went down due to several connivances.
Mr. Galadima
insisted that the intervention of AMCON further plunged the oldest airline in
the country into more crises, saying that the mismanagement of resources
continued unabated while more questionable transactions were enacted by those
appointed by the corporation.
“The
situation was compounded by bringing on board several key officials and
management who were unknowledgeable about airline business and whose
administration styles were corrosive and unsuitable to an operations-based
business like an airline.
“It was
indeed with much pain that the unions eventually negotiated a redundancy
package on behalf of the workers declared redundant by the management. This was
after we persuaded ourselves to accept this burden as further sacrifice needed
to avoid a complete crash of the airline.
“Worse
still, the company’s poor financial health meant that the redundant employees
could only be offered pittance. We were left with no choice but to accept a
worse possible redundancy package for our members. We did this to demonstrate
our desire to see the airline through the prevailing travails.”
It would be
recalled that Aero Contractors’ management had sacked 60 percent of its
workforce over redundancy claims earlier in the year.
The
management said it took the decisive decision following inadequate equipment
(aircraft), adding that it could not continue to pay high wages to workers who
had no jobs to do at the airline.
Before the
layoffs, the airline had a staff of over 1000 workers.
The
statement added that it was confronted with high operational challenges, as
most of its aircraft were not airworthy while some of its aircraft were due for
C-Checks.
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