Aviation workers to down tools over poor salary

Category: Business Published on Thursday, 21 February 2013 05:00 Written by Kayode Ekundayo, Lagos with agency report

Aviation workers yesterday announced plans to embark on a one-day warning strike tomorrow, over non-implementation of the new salary structure by management of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

The workers consist of the Air Transport Service Senior Staff Association (ATSSSAN), National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE). They are demanding for the implementation of the reviewed salary structure by the agency.

Addressing newsmen at the NAMA headquarters in Lagos, Mr Benjamin Okewu, National President, ATSSSAN, explained that workers of the agency across the nation would embark on a warning strike to drive home their demand.

Okewu said: “We affirm categorically that failure on the part of NAMA management to implement the approved salary structure is an invitation to industrial crisis. This will have a ripple effect on the aviation sector.

“The workers of NAMA, therefore, unequivocally call on NAMA management to immediately and comprehensively implement the reviewed/adjustment of the salary structure of the agency dated August 13, 2012.”

But NAMA yesterday promised to implement the new condition of service. It attributed delay in the implementation to some critical omissions in the document approved by the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission.