Aviation trade unions on Thursday shut
down the operations of Caverton Helicopters at the Murtala Muhammed
International Airport , Lagos over alleged sack of 150 workers.
The unions – the Air Transport Services
Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and the National Union of Air
Transport Employees – accused
the airline of anti-labour practices.
The members of both unions, chanting
various solidarity songs, barred workers and clients of the airline from
entering its premises for several hours.
The protesters carried placards with
inscriptions such as “Casualisation/Outsourcing is Evil, Workers Say
No”, “No Alternative to Condition of Service, No to Impunity in
Caverton” and “Workers’ Rights Must be Protected”.
However, there was a tight security
presence as policemen from the Rapid Response Squad and other aviation
security personnel were on ground to forestall any breakdown of law and
order.
Addressing the protesters, the General
Secretary, NUATE, Mr. Olayinka Abioye, said the unions decided to shut
down the airline’s operations in Lagos, Warri and Port Harcourt to
protect the rights of workers.
Abioye flayed the decision of Caverton’s
management to declare 150 workers redundant in view of the current
economic situation in the country.
He said that the affected workers were
paid only a month salary in lieu of notice despite some of them having
spent up to 13 years in the airline’s service.
He further alleged that some of the
workers were outsourced to another company, Bluebay, and their salaries
were slashed without any negotiation with labour.
He said, “We are shocked that management
chose this ignoble path of ambushing the union by declaring a whopping
150 members of staff redundant, while we were still discussing and
negotiating a new salary structure and condition of service.
“We believe that this indecorous position is ultra vires, null and void and of no effect.
“Our principle of industrial relations
is not to use “carrot and stick” tactics in negotiation and go ahead and
shoot the union at the back.
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