The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria,TUC,has vowed to resist attempt by the federal government to ban strikes in the nation’s aviation industry.
Its President,Comrade (Engr) Festus Osifo,who conveyed this in a press statement made available to Premium News on Wednesday,said banning strike is a serious threat to industrial peace and harmony in the country.
He advised the union’s members to be ready to carry out solidarity actions with striking workers in any sector if the government tries to criminalize such an action.
He assured Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATTSSSAN) members and aviation workers and all the working people of Nigeria of TUC’s solidarity and its readiness to side with them in all their legitimate disputes with government or employers in furtherance of their interests.
He added:”We advise the Buhari administration to concentrate on good governance, make petroleum products available, protect Nigerians against rampaging bandits and hyper-inflation and allow a peaceful transition of power rather than provoke unnecessary labour unrest.
“The TUC calls on all organizations including professional and market associations, student unions and civil society organizations to join in resisting government attempts to abridge the fundamental rights of the Nigerian people when that time comes”
Aviation Minister,Hadi Abubakar Sirika,had recently announced the ban on behalf of the Buhari administration.
But Osifo said the aviation law the minister refers to which he claims empowers government to ban strikes, cannot override neither the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria nor the fundamental rights of Nigerians to withdraw their labour if they deem it necessary.
He said:”This is unambiguously stated in the ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and the right to organize.Section 20 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) bans forced or compulsory labour which means no Nigerian citizen can be forced to work if he or she chooses not to work.
” Government and its handlers should always do everything possible to address issues of welfare raised by different unions and also respect the letters of any collective agreement that it entered into.This is the only way strike can be averted and not by any surreptitious or clandestine moves or pronouncements.
He punctured recent aviation minister’s claim that strikes are unnecessary because: “As a government, our ears are always open, the government is open to listening to any grievances and there are procedures for dealing with these kind of grievances”,saying the action sounds hollow. If indeed government listens, it
He maintained that government would have listened to Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATTSSSAN) members and the aviation staff’s long-standing demands rather than force them into a strike.
He said:”If truly government listens, it would not have allowed the universities teachers strike to drag on for eight months simply because it failed to honour an agreement it willfully entered into. And even after the strike was called off; it continues to withhold the unpaid salaries of the academics, which itself is provocative and unfair labour practice”.
According to him,strike in the aviation industry is not a peculiarly Nigerian issue;stressing that it is a right exercised universally by workers.
He added:”In the past few months, airport and airline staff in France, Belgium, Portugal and Italy have gone on strike. This same week aviation staff went on strike in Nigeria, their counterparts in some other countries also did. For instance, on January 25, 2023, aviation staff in Portugal and Germany went on strike while those in the United Kingdom have called a strike for February 1, 2023.It is wishful thinking for the Federal Government to think it can trample on the rights of Nigerian workers”
