Labour Warns Aero Contractors Over Sack Of Workers

The organised labour has warned the management of Aero Contractors not to provoke Nigerian Workers over the alleged sack of 655 workers in one swoop and the lock out of the entire company’s workforce.

The Acting General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Emmanuel Ugboaja stated this on behalf of the organised labour in a press statement.

He said the congress expressed surprise that despite huge opportunities provided by the existence of vibrant, well informed, matured and responsible trade unions in the aviation sector, the Aero Contractors management decided to ignore all available industrial relations mechanisms and dismissed over 655 staff and locked out the entire workforce since March 13, 2013.

Comrade Ugboaja said the leadership of the organised labour regretted this anti workers decision of the management of the Aero Contractors without consultation with the Union, the National union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Air Transport Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSAN).

The NLC scribe said the company’s management sacked the workers through these ill informed actions before  approaching the National Industrial Court (NIC) for an injunction to legitimise their anti workers decisions. He said the intention of the Aero Contractors’ management was to ultimately circumscribe workers rights to belong to the unions as well as casualise the entire workforce.

He said “These are totally unacceptable to us and we will do everything possible to defend the rights of the workers of the company.”

The acting NLC scribe said “while we applaud the steps taken so far, by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) which grounded the airline since safety cannot be guaranteed with an airline that has caused itself avoidable industrial crisis, adding that all employees of airlines all over the world are key to security and safety of flights.

The NLC urged the management of the airline to recall all those dismissed and reopen their offices immediately.

The NLC acting scribe said the Organised Labour would not hesitate to take appropriate solidarity actions in defence of the workers, should the airline’s management refuse to reverse its decision.

NLC urged the workers to continue to take all necessary actions together with their union leaders until the decisions are reversed.

Philip Okparaji