Hundreds of passengers who arrived at the Murtala Muhammed Domestic Airport terminal Two (MMA2) Tuesday morning for their flights got stranded as aviation unions barricaded entry and exit points to the terminal building.
The unions had accused management of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited BASL of unilaterally laid off 34 members of their union contrary to the procedural agreement the union entered into BASL via the Condition of Service (CoS).
Besides passengers, workers and users of the airport terminal were also denied access.
The unions insisted that neither passengers nor workers would be allowed access to terminal building until 34 members, among who were the branch President, Secretary Treasurer, and Women leader, of the union unjustly sacked by the management of BASL are reinstated to their jobs or paid their full severance benefits
Earlier, during a media briefing attended by the National Deputy President of Air Transport Service Senior Staff Association of Nigeria ( ATSSSAN) Comrade Emmanuel Jaja, Deputy Secretary General, Comrase Frances Akinjole, National
TRUSTEE, ATSSSAN, Comrade Innocent Atasie and 2nd Vive President, ATSSSAN, Comrade Vera Egbukichi, all branch Presidents and Secretaries as well as representatives of other four unions in the aviation industry in Nigeria on Monday ATSSSAN had stated its displeasure with the unilaterally manner the 34 workers were laid off.
Though the union did not give a timeline for its action, but assured that no disruption of anything would take place if management of BASL acceded to its demands.
The Unions are: the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), National Union of Air Transport Employees, NUATE, Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals ANAP and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE).
Comrade Jaja who spoke at the news conference insisted that they were not out to cause trouble but for the right thing to be done.
Also Deputy Secretary General, ATSSSAN, Comrade Frances Akinjole said all efforts to address the issues have failed because management of BASL was not cooperating on the issue
Akinjole who cited an incident of 2018, accused the management of intimidating members of the unions in their employment for insisting on their rights.
Airlines operating out of the terminal early this morning started sending messages sanding to passengers via emails and WhatsApp alerting them that the MMA2 has been completely closed off to workers and passengers alike by the Labour Union early this morning.
Part of the message read “efforts are currently being made to resolve the situation, however, please note that this action will greatly impact our flights scheduled in and out of Lagos today”.
“We greatly regret the impact of this unexpected action on your day’s plans as we urge you to kindly stay close to all our communication channels for subsequent updates.”
