Harboursandport.com: Kaduna - Aviation unions have joined the Five days warning strike declared by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, to compel the Kaduna state government to reverse its decision to sack workers.
The unions that have joined the strike include the National Union of Air
Transport Employee, NUATE, National Association of Aircraft Pilots and
Engineers and NAAPE, Association of Nigeria Aviation Professional, ANAP.
The Kaduna International Airport workers, chanting solidarity songs,
barricaded the gates of the airports in compliance with the industrial action
which started from midnight of Sunday, 16th May 2021 and will run till midnight
of Friday, 21st May 2021.
According to the unions, the Kaduna State government has flouted
“the civil service laws and is unconstitutional to sack civil servants before
they serve their mandatory 35 years or reach 60 years age limit".
Speaking about the strike action, First Deputy National President of
NUATE, Comrade Salisu Lawal, representing National President, said NUATE joined
the strike in solidarity with the workers of Kaduna State because “an injustice
to one is an injustice to all."
“If you are sacking people more than five you have to sit down and
negotiate. The Governor first sacked over 2, 500 local government workers and
the labour laws state that if you are sacking more than five you have to sit
down and talk with them on how to pay redundancy, they didn’t do that".
Comrade Lawal wondered why Kaduna State which has one of the highest
Internally Generated Reenue (IGR) is refusing to do what is right adding that
the solidarity is going to continue till Friday unless there is another
directive from the NLC.
Also speaking, General Secretary, NUATE, Comrade Ocheme Aba, who was in
Kaduna to join the industrial action said : " What is important is
when you go home and your wife and children ask why you are doing this you can
explain very well. The Kaduna state government has violated several laws.
Section 20 of the labour Act provides that if you are going to declare workers
redundant, you must first show good reason why you want to carry out the
redundancy and second, if you show good reason, and their unions agree with you
then you must negotiate their redundancy benefits."
“Don’t forget, not terminal benefits, but redundancy benefits. You must
also not forget that terminal benefits are already established by the
conditions of service. That’s not subject to negotiation, you pay the terminal
benefit then you pay the negotiated redundancy benefits so he has not done any
of that."
“He has violated public service rules that state that a worker is
entitled to work for 35 years or till 60 years whichever comes first. He has
unilaterally fixed 50 years."
Recall that in a release on Saturday jointly signed by Comrade Ocheme
Aba, General Secretary, NUATE, Comrade Umoh Ofonime, Deputy General Secretary,
NAAPE, and Comrade Abdul Razaq Seidu, General Secretary, ANAP, the unions
informed their members to stay Off their duty posts at the Kaduna International
Airport with effect from 12 midnight Sunday till Friday 21st, May.
The release read: "We are constrained to inform you that in
compliance with the industrial action declared by the Nigerian Labour Congress,
NLC, in Kaduna state, our unions as above shall proceed to effect the action as
from midnight of Sunday 16th May to Friday 21st May, 2021.
“Accordingly, all workers at the Kaduna Airport have been directed to
withdraw all services at the airport within the stipulated period. In effect,
there will be no operations of any kind into, at or out of, the airport within
the period.”
"This information is provided to enable your management take the
necessary action to safeguard valuable properties within the vicinity of the
airport", the unions advised.
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