Aviation Unions Slam Enugu Airport Concession, Threaten Strike
Aviation workers’ unions have rejected the Federal Government’s concession of the Enugu airport, describing the process as insensitive, opaque, and exclusionary, warning that industrial action may follow if the decision is not reversed.
The unions—the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, the National Union of Air Transport Employees, and the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals—made their position known in a joint letter addressed to the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development.
The letter was jointly signed by the general secretaries of the three unions: Frances Akinjole, ATSSSAN; Sikiru Waheed, General Secretary of NUATE; and Abdul Rasaq Saidu, Secretary General of ANAP.
Last week, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, signed the agreement document for the concession of the airport. This development has since sparked pushback from the workers.
Keyamo described the signing as the conclusion of a “painstaking and tedious process” that had lasted several years, involving negotiations, due diligence, and consultations with key stakeholders, including aviation unions.
He assured that the agreement prioritised the welfare of workers at the airport, amid persistent concerns by aviation unions over job losses arising from concession exercises, stressing that aviation workers at the Enugu airport would retain their status as federal employees.
However, the ministry was silent on the tenure of the concession, a situation that had raised concerns from unions and some experts in the industry.
Dissatisfied with the development, the unions, in a letter obtained by our correspondent, stated that they were “compelled” to draw the minister’s attention to their concerns over the signing of the concession agreement with the concessionaire late last week.
They alleged that workers’ representatives on the concession committee were sidelined during the final stages of the process, thereby excluding labour from deliberations on key employment- and welfare-related issues.
According to them, necessary labour provisions that ought to have been embedded in the contract were ignored, despite earlier expectations that a separate agreement addressing workers’ interests would be concluded with the unions.
They further accused the authorities of conducting the process without transparency, warning that the development had already triggered discontent among aviation workers nationwide.
The unions said, “No agreement was ever signed with our unions in this regard. Hence, the process was incomplete to warrant the signing off of the concession agreement of the Enugu airport, as it happened last week.
“This patent lack of transparency that envelops the processes that culminated in the signing of the agreement has caused serious acrimonious agitation among the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria staffers across Nigeria.”
Describing the action as a “flagrant display of insensitivity” to staff who could be affected by the concession, the unions formally rejected the agreement and called on the minister to halt and reverse the process.
They urged the government to allow for proper engagement with labour unions to safeguard workers’ rights and ensure industrial harmony in the aviation sector. While reaffirming their commitment to peace in the industry, the unions warned that patience among workers was wearing thin.