The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, workers yesterday embarked on 1-day warning strike to press home their demands for payment of the outstanding balance of salaries and allowances.
This is just as the workers’ unions locked the entrance gates to the headquarters of FAAN to prevent the Aviation Minister, Senator Hadi Sirika from holding a scheduled town hall meeting with the authority’s workers.
The Minister was scheduled to hold a town hall meeting with the unions and members of staff Thursday, at noon to discuss the workers’ demands. Canopies and decorations were set up, in preparation for the meeting.
But outside the venue, gates were padlocked and blocked with vehicles by the workers and the union leaders, with solidarity songs blaring from loudspeakers.
On Wednesday evening, National Union of Air Transport Employees NUATE, Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, ATSSSAN and the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals, ANAP issued a notice to embark on the one-day warning strike after the seven days ultimatum earlier issued to FAAN Management to meet the workers demands elapsed.
The workers’ demands include ” immediate payment of outstanding allowances, leave allowances, remittance of contributory pensions, cooperative deductions, the gratuity of retired staff and death benefits”.
Others are ” immediate release of aviation intervention funds, immediate implementation of the national minimum wage and immediate remittance 105.3 billion actuarial valuations as 2016 to PFA’s, immediate reparation of 2020 actuarial valuation”.
The action of the FAAN workers has crippled activities of other aviation agencies that have offices within the FAAN headquarters complex. The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA and the Nigerian Quarantine services staff have not been able to gain entry to their offices as at the time of filing this report.
