Passengers Stranded as Aero Workers Go on Strike

Aero Contractors

Aero Contractors workers yesterday carried out their threat of grounding the airline’s activities thereby forcing it to cancel flights and leaving hundreds of passengers stranded in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Warri.

Many of the passengers who arrived for the early morning flights at the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos became frustrated when they were told they could not travel with the airline to their destinations.

The grouse of the workers was that the airline management about three weeks ago introduced a policy that outsourced most of the low cadre jobs, especially the drivers in the airline, prompting the workers to demand the sack of the Head of Human Resources, otherwise they would go on strike, a threat the carried out yesterday.

Disappointed with the development, the passengers besieged the head office of the airline to express disenchantment over the seemingly indifferent attitude of Aero Airlines staff, who did not give a prior notice of the development, thus forcing them to miss very important business appointments.

At the new domestic terminal (MMA2), scores of passengers sat on the floor and to checkmate any break down of law and order, scores of armed policemen from the Airport Police Command were on hand to provide security, as they mounted a barricade at the entrance of Aero Airlines office and desk, at the airport,

Reacting to the incident, Aero management in a statement said that it apologisedfor the inconvenience suffered by “our highly esteemed customers due to an abrupt industrial action by our staff which has led to grounding of all our scheduled operations. We are engaging with the Unions to find a quick and amicable resolution. Further details will be given in due course. Thank you for your understanding.”

A fortnight ago, the drivers in the airline kicked when they learnt that their services would now be outsourced to a company and they mounted protests until it was reported that the management rescinded the decision.

The fear of the workers was that a major part of the workforce might be contracted out, starting from the drivers in the company.

A labour union leader told CA in a telephone interview last Saturday that a similar incident happened at the now rested Air Nigeria when the present Aero head of HR held the same position in the company which is now comatose.

The President of Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association (ATSSSAN), Benjamin Okewu, confirmed the planned strike to CA and said that if Aero management did not meet the workers’ demand by Tuesday the strike would take place.

So the airline failed to meet the workers demand on Tuesday and the decided to go on strike yesterday as they threatened to do.

Also when the planned outsourcing of the drivers of the airline was made known, the former Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority of Nigeria (NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren, warned that whoever Aero may hand over the training and management of the drivers must have Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) certificate on the training of aerodrome drivers.

“This is because there are special rules that guide the movement of vehicles in some parts of the airport. You must abide by these rules while driving around the runway, so they must make sure that the standard is maintained. All our drivers go to FAAN for training,” Demuren said.