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Workers Protest Plan To Ban Unionism in Aviation Industry
Scores of aviation workers at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, have protested against plan by the Federal Government to ban unionism in the aviation industry.
The protesters, drawn from different unions in the industry, matched round the airport, last Monday, with placards.
Some of the placards read: ‘Minister of Aviation, Stop Playing Games With Workers’, Our Right to Protest is Covered Under ILO Convention’, Banning of Workers from Unionizing is Evil’, among others.
The workers accused the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, of working hard to cage unionisation in the industry.
They alleged that the minister had sent a bill to the National Assembly with a view to banning workers in the industry from belonging to labour unions.
They noted that the proposed law did not only breach their fundamental human rights but also negates the international labour organisation convention.
Speaking with newsmen, Chairman of Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association, Comrade Rasaq Animasaun, vowed that the workers would resist every move by the Federal Government to cage them at the airport.
Animasaun said workers at the industry also have the right like their counterparts across the nation to belong to unions.
Also speaking, Chairman, Nigeria Association of Aviation Professionals, Comrade Akangha Emmanuel, urged the National Assembly to reject the bill.
He also urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to assent to the bill if it is passed by the National Assembly, saying that the bill violates the right of workers in the industry to freely associate for their common good.
On his part, Chairman, National Union of Air Transport Employees, Federal Airport Authority (FAAN), Port Harcourt, Comrade Felix Ohwoefe, said the proposed bill breached the fundamental human rights of workers to form or belong to unions.
He said the protest was the first step in the series of actions that will be taken by the workers, stressing that more actions will be taken as the days go by to ensure that the bill does not see the light of the day.
In her own contributions, a state council officer of the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Employees, Comrade Maureen Kenneth Amadi, said the union would use all legal means to resist any attempt to violate the rights of workers in the industry.
She said the bill was not in the interest of the industry, and urged President Buhari not to assent to the bill if passed by the National Assembly.
By: John Bibor
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