Flights into and out of Nigeria could be halted along with the supply of petroleum products as unions call nationwide strike

FLIGHTS in and out of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos face the prospect of being disrupted over the coming days as workers commence an indefinite strike over the refusal of the government to agree a minimum wage deal.

In August, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) proposed a minimum wage of N56,000 ($154) a month but employers under the umbrella of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association rejected the proposal. Labour minister Dr Chris Ngige, has since been trying to get the 30-man Tripartite Committee that has the final say on the manner to reach an agreement but having lost patience with the government, organised labour issued an ultimatum and after it was not met, declared a nationwide strike.

With no progress in talks, the labour unions issued a 14-day ultimatum to the government, which expired yesterday September 26 and as such the strike begun today. Organised labour has shut down offices of aviation agencies at the Lagos in Ikeja, although the action has not affected flight operations as airlines and passengers went about their respective businesses without harassment from the unions.

If the strike continues, however, this could change as aviation unions could step up and ante and ask their members to halt operations. Unions like the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (Atsssan), the National Union of Air Transport Employees (Nuate) and the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (Anap) have shut down agencies at the airport in compliance with the directive but have not gone any further.

Union members barricaded the offices of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (Faan) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (Nama). Also shut down were the headquarters of the Accident Investigation Bureau and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) at the Lagos airport.

Frances Akinjole, the Atsssan deputy general secretary, said that unions in the sector have only carried out light action for now. According to him, this is because they are currently engaging on another important assignment outside Lagos.

Mr Akinjole added: “It is a decision we collectively took that there will be a strike but unfortunately one of our sister unions, Nuate, is having its national delegates conference in Asaba today, so we decided to make the protest very light because leadership of the unions are in Asaba. We did not want it to look as if the aviation unions are not in solidarity with the national labour movement and that is why we only shut down the offices.”

With the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress and the United Labour Congress all backing the strike, it is feared that the distribution of petroleum products, banking and other essential services will be affected as from today. Stakeholders in the organised private sector are expressing worries over effects of the strike, saying it could send the economy back into recession.

However, organised labour has pointed out that the strike is essentially to compel the federal government to announce its figure and ensure completion of work on the new national minimum wage. Yesterday, a last-minute effort by the federal government to prevent the strike failed as it could not come up with a proposed figure.